Aleksandr Tonev, the on loan winger found guilty of probably using racist and abusive language, has issued a statement declaring that he wants to move on.
Don’t get excited. Thats not what he meant.
A lot has happened in the last few months. It has been a very difficult time for me and everyone involved. All I can do is move on from this now.
“I have made my case all along that I never used the words I was accused of using. I say again that I did not do this, I know what I am and I am not a racist.
“I want everyone to understand that, most of all the Celtic fans, who have been a great support to me since coming to the Club. I know what happened and I know that I will definitely recover from this as a stronger person.”
So, where do we go from here ? Should Tonev be sent back to Aston Villa, and let them decide where to take it from there ?
If he is innocent, as he claims, and if the players and management believe him, then no. He deserves the support of his colleagues, and also of the support.
Should Celtic, as they said they would, consider a visit to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ?
Well, no, simply because they will cite the fact that Celtic signed up for this “balance of probabilities ” nonsense, and thus can hardly moan if a decision goes against them because of the system.
As far as I can see, Tonev says he is innocent, and there is not a single piece of evidence -bar Logans accusations- to suggest otherwise.
There is, however, one course of action open.
A civil lawsuit in the courts suing Logan for defamation , loss of earnings, potential loss of career earnings and , of course, for any humiliation or embarrassment the accusations have caused.
As for financing such a legal campaign, isn’t that what the SPFA are for ? Protecting their members ? Although with Tonev being on loan, it may fall to the Bulgarian FA, or the English PFA to deal with it.
Even the threat of that should get Logan, who is coming across as a thoroughly unlikeable character, a little loose in the bowels.
Simple fact for him to consider is this, if he accepts the verdict, then he is accepting the guilt.
He’s adamant he’s innocent, so at least he should go down fighting.
Although I would draw the line at wearing Tonev is Innocent t shirts, I disagree with Clarke Carlisle, the former English PFA chief, who said
Even the threat of that should get Logan, who is coming across as a thoroughly unlikeable character, a little loose in the bowels.
“As a club Celtic would be better advised to take a stance against what is alleged to have been done as opposed to trying to undermine the authorities, just as we expected Liverpool to do in their case with Luis Suarez.
“Lessons cold have been learned from the Suarez situation where the overriding issue is of greater severity than that of the individual.
“In a situation like this it’s plausible and possible to take an outward stance that totally condemns actions of that nature while still supporting your player through the process.
“They could say as a club they stand by the SFA and the principles and the ethics of the modern-day game in relation to racism and discrimination.
“A stance like that could have been far more beneficial to the reputation of such a global football club as opposed to totally undermining the issue and the authorities.
Hey ! Good Idea, we could maybe even push the boat out and sign a black fellow or two.
Does PFA stand for Proper Fecking Arse ? Theres an undercurrent there that is more or less accusing the club of condoning racism..
Racism is bad, very bad. but so is convicting a man on hearsay. Perhaps more so, if only because of the precedent that is being set.
And we all know where that leads.
Anyway, lets hope that Celtics players don’t get involved in a tit for tat campaign against Aberdeen players ( or any others ), by accusing them of similar crimes, confident in the knowledge that the SFA will find them guilty.
Leigh Griffiths gets a bit of stick from supporters, largely due to an image he has allowed to flourish of the boy about town ned, but not only have we seen a growing maturity on the park, and in training, there was this on twitter this morning;
Probably safe to say that Griffiths isn’t quite the ogre portrayed in the media, and its good to see some positive publicity for a change, not just to Celtic, but to footballers in general, who often do a lot of charity work unrecognised, but get pilloried for anything they do wrong, or are perceived to have done wrong.
Its good to see Griffiths buying this lad some presents. With all the kids he has himself, money must be tight this time of year.
and he deserves praise, in these days where the population is declining, due to falling birth rates and emigration , for doing his damn best to help fill the place up again.
Michelle Keegan, once of tvs Coronation Street isn’t dead after all. Apparently, she was only pretending when we saw her get clubbed by a bloke in a Manchester alleyway. She has decided that after life in a grim northern town, she wants to live a little, and has put a trip to Celtic Park at the top of her list.
“I was supposed to be coming this year but I’ve been so busy I couldn’t manage it.
“I want to make it as a proper day out with my dad, my grandad and my family. I think that’d be quite a nice weekend for us.”
Right, whereabouts do you want picking up from, lass ? And don’t worry, when we bring a new member to our CSC its quite normal for the rest of the club to spend the preceding night in their garden.
With binoculars.
Ikeche Anya could well be on his way to Glasgow, the Watford and Scotland forward/midfielder, ach lets just call him a footballer has been linked with a move to Glasgow, but there is a snag.
With Efe, Virgil, Nir and Beram already filling the UEFA alloted quota of ridiculous first names, then one of them will have to move on.
But there is hope that Beram Kayal will do the decent thing and head for the exit door. Then again, theres been hope of that for a while.
Someone who has a fairly routine first name, though, is happy where he is, and it looks like he has bought inot the Celtic mindset;
Quick quiz.
Who said “Football without fans is nothing ” ?
Well, not exactly wrong, but not the answer we were looking for.
Guidetti in front of Anya, johansen and Forrest ? You’d need to watch the game on telly after and slow it down so you cold see what happened.
Over at Ibrox, currently in the middle of antoher crisis, the Second Ranger s board met with curent manager Ally Mccoist, who replaced Ally mccoist who resigned at the weekend, to discuss money and pay offs, and who is going to the press first.
Ally didn’t look at his best, and there are fears the last four years are so are taking its toll on a manger who has had to endure events that no other manager in the history of football has.
He’s been faced with a sycophantic media, a rogue businessman who lined his pockets with cash and shares, several underperforming players who have simply signed for the money, and above all, has been accused of being a really nice guy on an almost daily basis.
Poor sod.
Barry Mcgonigle, the man who catches a moment in time and brings it back to life, put this on twitter. Whats happening here ?
Celtic and Tonev shouldn’t accept this and shoukd keep fighting it…anything else is an admission of guilt!
Would like to have heard what the late Paul McBride or indeed Paul Mcconville’s views on this matter!
After Tonev was found guilty on the balance of probabilities you want him to prove his innocence by suing in a civil case where the case is based on … balance of probabilities?
Maybe he’d get a fairer hearing, but I imagine that a judge or jury would be hard pressed to find for Tonev in a case that has already been found against him by football authorities, however corrupt and/or inept they happen to be.
In a court of law he won’t have to prove his innocence. The burden of proof is the other way round. so, in a civil suit, Tonev can argue that he has suffered loss because of a decision that had been taken on the basis of the balance of probability rule.
In a civil court, the balance of probability rule also applies. so, on the balance of probabilities, Tonev has been caused loss by er, the balance of probability ruling, which is why he should sue.
The SFA and /or Logan would bottle it anyway. They always do in the real world.
Eh….the burden of proof is on the one raising the action and that would be Tonev. In order to succeed he would have to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that he has been defamed by Logan. He just subverts his SFA tribunal defence to a claim for defamation, which has just failed him on the same test, in front of the same level of judge he would be facing if he proceeded in the Court of Session, whilst employing the highest paid counsel in the country.
It’s true he could proceed in front of a jury, if he chose to do so and if he thought he would get a better shake. Other than that, unles he comes up with new evidence which has just failed him in front of a fomer Senator of the College of Justice, he may not get very far.
Would Tonev just not cite that Logan has accused him without proof of a crime, and abused a system that does not require proof to defame him ? Malicious gossip ? Or whatever the legal term is ?
He just raises a defamation action. It’s a civil suit but can proceed in front of a jury if he elected to have one. Logan’s defence is veritas. In Scotland its defamation. Elsewhere libel, slander etc. The same scenario had just played out in front of Bonomy and having heard from both sides he preferred Logan’s version of events. He can take the chance that a different judge or jury might prefer his version of events, but there doesn’t seem to be any suggestion it would play out that way in the absence of any new evidence.
I think Tonev should go back to Villa ,clear his own name through the Courts then after he has done so be given another chance to secure a deal.
We don’t know that he did or did not say the words Logan claims he said.
Only them two know the truth.
Not our fight though the guys on loan so we have no moral duty to defend him I don’t think.
The longer this drags on the more it becomes about Celtic and the less about Tonev the Media will ensure that.
As we have already seen with the comments of Carlisle.
Get him tae fuck Celtic pronto.
Charlie, the fact Celtic have continued to back him means that aint gong to happen. With all the hoo hah and shit hitting the fan in Sevconia, I doubt it will be newsworthy after this week and the fact he wont be available for a month or so means it should stay pretty quiet. Obviously Celtic will have spoken to Villa and I think they will also be of the opinion to let it peter out. I think with Celtic utilising the loan market more and more, it would be dangerous just to tell the guy to GTF.
He won’t be playing for the next 6 games that takes his Loan into January is he ona Season Long Loan or a short term loan?
If it’s the former a simple sorry your not quite what we are after son and a goodbye should suffice.
How sending him back to villa affect future loans is beyond me?
The guys been involved in a potentially damaging Racial Incident it should be down to him to clear his own name not the Loan Club he’s hoping to get a future contract off.
If you think the MSM are going to let this drop because the Bigotdome is in meltdown your wrong andy if anything this and other issues at Celtic (flare fanny)will be used to “even” things up.
Then it would make Ronny and Celtic FC look rather weak after whole heartily supporting him even after the appeal. As for future loans, clubs may look to this issue and feel that Celtic don’t treat loan players with a similar attitude as there owned ones, particularly if you tell him to GTF, he goes back to England,sings like a canary saying he was innocent, badly treated by Celtic and so on and so forth.
Tending to agree with you Charlie, this has started to become about Celtic as opposed to Tonev.
I’m concerned the club has backed itself into a corner.
We , the fans have to be careful here too .
It’s our natural reaction to defend one of our own , especially with the lack of clear evidence, either way.
However , this is a very sensitive situation , not least because of the ethnic diversity we (thankfully) enjoy within our playing staff.
We need to be certain we’re defending him solely due to evidence , or lack of,and nothing to do with the fact he’s with Celtic.
We need to , club and fans ,continue to re-iterate our hatred of all bigotry , including racism.
Did anyone else on here read the testimony from the hearing?
Totally agree JPM.
No I’ve not read it personally my only concern is with the verdict and how that affects our Club.
Already we have Clarke Carlyle sounding warnings about how this could rub off on our Club.
Forget loan signings and think of this..
Would Denayer Ambrose and Virgil have come to Celtic if they thought we were defending a proven racist?
Cut’s both ways the argument.
Get him tae fuck.
Politely of course 😉
Willie Wallace and Bobby Lennox celebrating the demise of Sevco, or maybe just celebrating a wee victory against some Italian team in Lisboa.
Final whistle in Lisbon where a pride of lions were on the hunt
I think it looks like Buzz bomb celebrating with Stevie Chalmerswho has just scored against Inter Milan in Portugal. I think it was in some final or other
It’s the final whistle and it’s Wallace and Lennox.
The day after the Tonev and Logan incident there was an article in one of the papers saying Logan was from the hardest part of Manchester and was brought up the hard way. Well if that is the case he should know how to deal with name calling. No witnesses no evidence we must fight to clear our mans name. Remember we are all Neil Lennon. HH
I dont often take issues with what you write Ralph (first lie in straight away) but why the comment that Logan is conming across as thoroughly unlikable, stated not once, but twice?
I have not been super close to this story but I dont recall him saying or doing anything thoughout this whole thing? Suppose what he says happened happened, he shoud feel he can report it surely and not be branded unlikable because of it? I m not making any judgement on anyones guilt by saying that, but in your own work you want to know you can report offensive words or acts and not get called a trouble maker etc for it?
If Toney is to be taken at his word, it seems he wants to draw a line under it, take the ban and move on. To me this seems most sensible all round, yes in a courtroom he would likely win, but this is a sporting sanction and the rules were in place before any of this began. I m aware that rules & Scottish football authorities are often strangers but in this case Celtic have little to gain by going to CAS in my opinion, reputation wont be enhanced, Tonev is likely to be back down the road never to be seen again soon enough, and while I agree in a court of law he would be very unlikley to be convicted this is not a law court and the punishment he received is not equal to what he could expect to receive if found guilty in a law court either. I feel uncomfortable abou the whole thing tbh, and think we should take it on the chin now, and move on, without ever accepting that we agree with the judgement.
the twitter pic in yesterdays diry
I believe Logan. Why would he make it up? The Twitter pic confirms to me only that justice had been served on a slack mouth and general dunderheid fae a guy who disnae take that kind of pish.
My understanding is Logan’s reaction was spontaneous which argued against it being pre-meditated.
I also understand that Celtic’s defence was misunderstanding , rather than Logan lying.
We don’t have proof either way so shouldn’t pardon or condemn , but we’ll all have our beliefs , either way.
Me ? Lets just say I’m uncomfortable with this whole thing.
Logan’s coming across as a bit of a pratt , remember his red card in the tunnel , but I suppose that’s his prerogative.
Also , don’t see Tonev taking this to any other court , as suggested in Ralph’s column.
Cheers Ralph.
Saw the picture now, yep pretty lacking in class, but I still believe Celtic should now move on from this, Tonev take his ban, ideally back at Aston Villa.
Has anyone asked Tonev what he actually said if it wasn’t what was reported to have been said?
I don’t like the way Logan is all over twitter mocking Tonev.
Remember this, any player can now accuse another and it doesn’t need a witness to get the guy done.
It is nonsense!
Great pics,again Ralph.Especially Sally as Rab C.
Lawwell should wait to May,hopefully a sunny day,and invite Ms.Keegan,to do the Paradise windfall in her bikini !
That would get bums on seats,or maybe just bums.Sorry,for being sexist,it’s all Monti’s fault. lol
What, like this???
She is awesome though eh.eh.eh.
I agree HS
All Monti’s fault.
Yip Andy,she’s a pure stunner !!
Now that pic,you highlighted,beats Ralph’s pics,any day of the week. lol
Her in a Celtic top & shorts do it for me.. in fact, if she was wearing a balaclava a bin bag & wellies it wouldnae matter
That’s what I’m talking about!!!
Alright already…..
What confuses me about the Tonev situation is why no one else heard the comment. In the report Logan claims he put his hand on Tonev whilst preparing for a corner kick to be taken. The players are bunched up. Why did no one hear or see Tonev make the comment or is Shay Logan embroidering the incident. Also the hearing claimed that Logan was a credible witness, Tonev had a Bulgarian interpreter present during this hearing, his evidence was hesitant and unsure according to the hearing. In my line of work in Glasgow I constantly have to use interpreters when dealing with families from overseas the conversation is frequently hesitant and unsure.
I perceive a bias of the panel which could appear to be racist in context.
Tonev should take the matter further as the set up appears to be pathetic. On the balance of probabilities it will snow on the 25th of December
I think we are getting carried away with racism . Surely a private word or two between adults shouldn’t be regarded as racist .
To me a person is acting in a racist manner when he makes clear to everyone in the vice it that he is calling a person Rangers racist name.
Wha!!!!
Meanwhile, any thoughts on Dundee United? I don’t want any repeats of the tense 1-0 stuff we’ve been doing. We’ll be punished for it.
Who’ll be fit?
Gordon
Matthews/Ambrose/Dan Dijk/Izzy
Forrest/Brown/Biton/Johansen
Stokes/Griffiths
I think we can do it, 3-1.
I still think Aberdeen will be our closest rival the rest of the year.
The final whistle of our greatest ever day!!! Proud as – what a great picture 🙂
I’ve no see Coronation street since Minnie Caldwell days…but I’m sure thats Elaine from Seinfeld. Cracker who ever she is….even wi the bleached cowdenbeath and hair that ‘took hours’ to give it the casual look. Nice shirt but.
MON THE HOOPS!!
FREE THE TONEV ONE!
Don’t you think its time this racist lark was kicked into touch!
Remember Mark Battenburg the English referee who’s carreer was almost over because of racism lies.
What ever happened to the old saying “STICKS AND STONES WILL BREAK MY BONES BUT NAMES WILL NEVER HURT ME”This case just proved how rediculous PC has become.