The other night, Celtic TV committed a massive faux pas by delaying the transmission of the Qarabag game until 9pm. And those who waited to see it got a half time interview with Ronny Deila reflecting on the game.
Badly put together would be an understatement. And if you logged in later to watch, the score was on the home page.
According to various posts I’ve read on forums and so on.
The plan to encourage people to go to the game, and prevent them from watching illegal streams appears to have backfired, as a number of overseas fans, who may have had to take an extra hour off work had they wanted to go to the game, couldn’t get the service they’d paid for. Often a full years subscription.
Leaving aside the somewhat petulant stance of depriving genuine paying customers to prevent lollygaggers from viewing, the club also denied access to Azeri TV, who would have paid for it, and thus anyone watching their stream is watching something that has made the club money.
A difficult to support argument, but a fact nonetheless. Most supporters would prefer a high quality Celtic TV, with the money going directly to the club.
It wouldn’t have been so bad had the club been honest about it. but, on Tuesday, they had tweeted;
Celtic TV @CelticTV
We are still working on rights for tomorrow’s #UCL game for ex UK & Ireland subscribers, we hope to announce full details later today. (NM)
3:10 PM – 28 Jul 2015
Of course, if that were to be believed, it would negate the statement in bold within the email received by overseas subscribers when they complained about lack of coverage.
We understand your frustration with this.
Celtic TV is a service provided by Celtic FC to its fans and we are proud that the channel enables thousands of fans around the world to keep in close contact with the club that we all love.
Naturally, the desire to see Celtic play is heightened on an occasion like this evening’s UEFA Champions League 3rd round qualifier against Qarabag FK of Azerbaijan. However, the club has taken a decision on this occasion not to provide live coverage in the best interests of Celtic FC.
That difficult decision has been made only after assessing all of the information at our disposal. However, it has become apparent that there is a lot of misleading information and conjecture circulating online and the club is keen to inform fans accurately on why Celtic TV will broadcast a delayed transmission of this evening’s game from 9pm.
Celtic FC does have the right to broadcast tonight’s game against Qarabag FK but on this occasion didn’t feel it was in the best interest of the club due to increased security threats posed from internet hackers.
The club’s multimedia department have had sustained attacks on Celticfc.tv in the last seven days. In addition we have intelligence that the attacks would have been greater if the game was broadcast live. This would have resulted in the quality of the service being frequently compromised mid-broadcast by attacks on our site.
This match is not being broadcast anywhere out with the stadium, Celtic TV subscribers will be the first people able to watch this game.
We are committed to providing the best possible service to all subscribers to Celtic TV. In showing the game as live as a delayed broadcast, we are able to manage out the risks highlighted while still providing subscribers with the full game this evening. Our commitment to all Celtic fans is that we are deploying all necessary resources to protect the Celtic TV service from future attacks and disruption.-
In the best interests of the club ?
What about the best interests of the fans ?
Overseas fans -and those who live outwith an hour of Celtic Park are a dedicated bunch. That goes without saying.
All over the world they meet up , they watch games, they buy merchandise, often in more abundance than the locals, though i must stress it’s not a competition.
They host players and officials when they travel abroad to conventions-a nice wee perk for everyone.
Yet providing them with no coverage of an extremely important game on a service they have paid for is nit in the best interests of the club ?
Should Hollywood stop making films, in case somehow gets hold of a dodgy stream or dvd ?
No, they adapt. They sell on quality, on the experience of the cinema.
The music business has adapted, by incorporating high quality streams into the business.
To add to the pain, the club then put the whole game on the free to view You tube channel, thus kicking out any teeth the ex Pats had left.
Someone somewhere isn’t very good at his job. In fact, this whole thing stinks.
The attitude shown by the club to the world wide support is shameful. not only in their actions, but by lying about the reasons. If the service/site is at risk from overloading, then install proper security.
Showing it later to solve the problem ? That would only be a solution if the hackers had to go to bed because it wa a school night.
Looking ahead, perhaps this debacle can be turned into something positive.
Clear the whole thing out. Start again with a professional company covering the games, and a professional company organising the site.
Celtic fans will pay for anything Celtic, especially if the money is going more or less straight into the club.
But we demand quality.
Thats why we don’t buy fake replica tops.
It’s why we prefer to have officially sanctioned t shirts, hats, scarves etc, as long as the club isn’t being too over the top in pricing.
The quality is usually better, if you don’t count New Balance, and there is the knowledge that the club is geting the money.
Speaking of New Balance.
I was contacted on here by the chap in charge of New Balance in Canada. He referred the customer Services manager in Britain to me, so i can’t thank him enough for doing his best to try to sort out the many issues that supporters have with the new kit.
I also contacted John Paul Taylor to ask for a contact to the man who secured the deal with the kit comapny. He didn’t give them to me, but agreed to pass on my request for his comments.
Neither has replied.
Am I to assume that the season book money is in now, and the shirts have been sold, therefore, we, as supporters can all go fuck ourselves ?
Sorry if you expected a laugh this morning, but sometimes Celtic, like any close friend or family member, can really piss me off.
Just perfectly sums up the whole sorry situation.
Can’t agree. I went into a pub on Baillieston after the game and there were 2 dozen guys watching it on Celtic TV. They could all have been at the game.
st tam
These guys would not have been there if you had paid them to go. There have always been couch supporters who sat glued to the radio before TV. When Celtic played Aberdeen in the cup in front of 146,000, do you think there were not another 100,000 listening on the radio? Besides, if your marketing is failing, don’t look for a solution by penalise everybody and anybody, especially those who simply are unable logistically to be there in person. That is exactly what the SNP did to solve the sectarian problem and look how we feel a bout all that nonsense. And it does not work. Just as in the same way, Celtic have alienated a good number of fans who just might show their dissatisfaction with their feet.
Celtic have never been good at customer relations, marketing or PR and I go back quite distance.
You keep going though! Radio, TV, not even the wife could keep me from being there when I was fit to go.
H H
H H
O’seas ST and not impressed with blatant lying.
Looks like we’re being viewed same as the southside gullibillies!!
Have a nice day Ralph HH
Got any photos of your grumpy face Ralph? I could do with a laugh 🙂
Agree. PL and the club generally talk up the ‘Celtic Family’ idea but this laudable concept does not always stand up to scrutiny. Nope, we are taken for granted and often we are taken for mugs. It came home to me a little recently when I queued for my son and daughter in law’s season book (yes there was a problem in their issuing) I digress. Most fans in the queue were waiting for CL qualifier tickets so I was prepared to wait. A couple with their children were in front of me and one child needed to go to the toilet but there are no public facilities for such contingencies at CP. A basic need is not catered for at the stadium: Peter Lawell, the board and certain club staff should come out of their Ivory Tower, off their soft seated arses and experience what their ‘family’ experience occasionally, Other than a shared support of Celtic I feel I have little else in common with our leaders.
Don’t get me started on the lack of toilets outside. My kids grew up thinking that glsgow had no such facilities. you either peed against a fence or sat in the ground for two hours before the game.
Ralph
Ah for the days of urine cascades enhancing our viewing while rotting our shoes.
Sorry, I do know it is a serious problem. It has been since I started going and that was when even the women stood for a pee and men had a shit on two legs. You would think after 70/80 years some bright spark would have though of solution – oh! forgot CTV and its advanced technology. It’s all your fault for “technically speaking”. If you need any help, I used to sell automatic public toilets. The only problem there is the danger you just might not get out again to see the game.
H H
Whenever I’ve been in a big queue at the TO, stewards opeend up the ground so people could use a toilet in the main stand. On non-match days anyway obviously. Worth an ask the next time. And aren’t there toilets in the Emirates stadium across the road?
Good job Ralph. Another big problem to be solved…
Tomorrow, the Staggies.
We won 2 and drew 1 with them last season but County improved as their season progressed.
Not sure who is injured but:
Gordon
Lustig/Van Dijk/Boyata/Izzy
Brown/Bitton
Mackay-Steven/Johansen/Commons
Griffiths
I’d like to see Janko get some pitch time and Fisher as well. Will Izzy need rested?
Mulgrew to figure instead.
Stokes or Scepovich?
Forrest/Armstrong to figure.
We need to keep an eye out for mid-week as well in order to field our most fit 11 on Wednesday.
I’d guess about 3-0 to the Bhoys, with Griffiths likely to score a brace. Without Ciftci for a while, we need another striker to step up to the plate.
was well pissed off, working in Kazakhstan just now and it would have been a 12:45am kick off but this changed to 2 am for the delay, so went to bed a bit earlier and set the alarm for just before 2, after watching 1st half then had to wait 20 minutes before the 2nd half was ready to watch. then back to sleep for the next alarm for 7am to go to work. they couldn’t give a fuck about us out here.
Hi Ralph, as overseas CTV subscriber I’ll throw my comment in. I watched on the hour delay. I frequently watch the matches delayed anyway due to timing etc. Main thing is don’t look at your phone in the meantime. Of course, I would have preferred live but I can live with an hour delay. The stream quality was very good and is noticeably better over the last few months. Steve McManus is the best expert since Jim Craig, he really did provide insight and a critical perspective.
As a CelticTV subscriber it is annoying that the matches are easily available on streaming sites but that’s the modern world. It was really annoying before when the CTV stream quality was poor. That seems to be fixed for the moment. With good quality stream I am happy to pay CTV, remembering how it used to be (searching L’Equipe on a Monday morning to sometimes get Saturday’s score).
And if you are following the Michiel Kramer rumours – he’s a forward in the JVoH model. Not very fast, not very technical, big & strong, but gets into the right place at right time. My view – better than what we’ve got for that role (Ciftci, Scepovic), but still not Celtic quality, he’s not seen as good enough for any of the Dutch top clubs. Watch out for Vincent Janssen by AZ this season. Coming man.
alkmaarbhoy
I take your point about the delay and the streaming. However, you and many others are paying for LIVE transmissions. So, if you only get a delayed one then that is false advertising and unacceptable for our club. Besides, reading the various blogs, it is the lie surrounding the explanations that seems to be making most supporters annoyed. We do not expect this from the club. After all they claim we are a family and yet they cannot trust us with the truth. To me they were shit scared of the backlash as indicated by the “technical problems” with the wall. They did not want anything controversial or challenging up there. That is typical of the “in crowd” at Parkhead. Always follow the party line.
As for Steve (Mick) McManus, Jim Craig and my favourite, Tommy Boyd, their comments are most welcome and great to listen to. But being in UK I only get audio and for most of the game I have no idea what is going on because one of the experts and the commentator are exchanging views or pleasantries when I want hear what is happening on the filed. I am sorry, but they have had yonks to get a decent broadcasting system in p[lace but are perfectly happy to screw the fans and have complete amateurs running the show and using it as platform for the next phase of their “journalistic” careers.
As for illegal streaming. I think it is on the cards in many fields now e.g. movies, music etc. as well as sport. Like any attractive advance, it will always be abused either by the crooks or those who simply can not afford the sometimes inordinate charges for the service. Sadly, I think it is one of those things the good guys like you will have to live with for the time being.
Sorry to rant but I think with our fan base being so diverse, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Meantime, do enjoy your transmissions. I would never wish for any reason at all, to destroy a man’s pleasure of following our great club no matter the method of doing so.
H H
I miss Deadhead!
Desi
I always said you were a lousy shot!!!!! 🙂
H H
So the half wits are out again with lets play fringe players.have they got short memories of last season when we dropped stupid points against piss poor opposition by playing weakened teams.how many of these youngsters have these people seen.First game of the season and we are not buggering off to foreign climes in search of money to bolster pirate pete,s bonus,and we should be getting off to a good start with no chances taken.
GORDON
FISHER(TOP CLASS NOT OR SHOULD NOT BE A FRINGE PLAYER)
VANDYCK
BOYATA
IZZY
BROWN
COMMONS
BITON
HENDERSON , MUCH BETTER THAN JOHANNSEN OR ARMSTRONG
MACKAY-STEVEN
GRIFFITHS
SUBS
BAILLY
JANKO
SCEPOVIC
ARMSTRONG
JOHANNSEN
ARMSTRONG
FORREST
I agree Devoy, would like to see some fringe players get a look-in tomorrow and rest the players that need to do a job for Wednesday. Lustig is playing one game a week just now so assume he’ll be in cotton wool, I’d like to see Janko get the start ahead of Ambrose. With him and Izzy at full back we’ll have attacking threat down both channels against a team who will sit in. VVD and Boyata need all the time together that’s possible though so would still play them, but saves Lustig/Mulgrew for Wednesday.
Commons and Griffiths to start as well, the latter to grab a goal or two and be undroppable for Wednesday; I think one away goal and we’re through, and our best shot is a set piece or Griffiths.
Nothing new I’m afraid…
Been going to CP since 1957..Not much has changed.
Celtic supporters are taken for granted..and taken for mugs..and just occasionally that attitude comes back to bite the Board on the bum.
But not often enough.
Their PR and “thinking outside of the box” (eg. Toilet facilities for queuing fans..)is woeful.
I’ve been reading about the New Balance problem on here for weeks…and still there is silence from the other end.
And then they wonder where the “missing support” is.
This article hits the nail on the head…and should be a wake-up call to our esteemed leaders..but will it ?
Don’t hold your breath.
Well said. Often get up at 0300 here in ARizona to watch a match. Now have to wonder if i will get fucked instead …
King snake
Every sympathy. We should not let this go. The club needs to put bums on seats on the back burner for a while and get refocused on fans first – and always actually.
H H
H H
Take the sex every time
On the playing side..
When I starred as a winger..we had dubbin on the boots (but NOT the toe-caps)and you never headed the lace or the coke of the big heavy leather baw’.
We also had guys who were full backs..right or left…didnae really matter..
Point is..do we no’ hiv a right back…who can play left back as well…?
Up until recently we had arguably 4 right backs..and only Izzy on the left.
I repeat…can a right back…no’ play at left back ?
BringbackthegoodolddaysCSC
Janko can play on either side I gather.
Mike
What are boots? I played with a guy who said we got a dubbin every week. As for right and left backs, in my day it depended what foot you kicked with :).
But you are right. Backs being interchangeable was kind of par for the course. Just ask Danny McGrain about a certain “privileged”, because of Danny, Sandy Jardine.
H H
PB:
You’ll love this…
My first NEW pair of boots…which my dad won in a raffle…
Were…
Big Geordie Young boots…(Korky was his Masonic nickname..aw the Huns had nicknames.)
The year was 1958 I think.
Prior to that..I wore hand me downs.(Two big brothers helped.)
Mike
I think mine were made by a Geordie from Balsa wood. I just remember they were as stiff as bricks and the laces had about fifty knots to keep them in one piece. The studs sent nails up through your feet about every second game. The toes were that big and bulky you could hardly see over them when you were a wee kid. You’re dead right about the dubbin. Keep it off the toe caps. They reckon they made them soft and that didn’t do when trying to break a guys legs in a tackle :). I remember putting it on the ball too after you finally got the inner blown up, the pump tube folded tight enough and the lacing sorted with thon iron hook thing. Jeez what a sore heid when you headed they that bit. Some footballers had permanent third noses. I was knocked out once when I got it full pelt in the face. Only time in my career mind. I won all the rest on points and you should have seen the state of the other guys 🙂 Something tells me I might still be suffering some side effects.
H H
OK, I might be playing Devil’s advocate here, but I’m not sure the statement and the tweet the night before are at odds with each other. Due to the passage of time both can be true.
The statement also suggests that the hacking is not directly connected to those that would illegally broadcast a stream that they have possibly even legitimately purchased. Someone who illegally streams is not necessarily a hacker.
They mention sustained attacks over the last seven days which is likely nothing to do with illegal streams. It’s quite possibly nefarious agents trying to bring the whole site down.
It is not unlikely that the club’s concern was that high volumes of traffic would inhibit them fending off the same sort of attacks that they had been receiving for the last seven days and have therefore taken steps to reduce that volume of traffic.
So whilst I get why everyone is annoyed and that Celtic could have done certain things better, I don’t think that it has necessarily been done to prevent illegal streams, nor do I think the evidence shows dishonesty on anyone’s part.
Ralph
I had my rant on here yesterday about CTV just before family arrived to restrict me to speed reading the other two excellent articles about the club tour and our very own quiet man, JC. So, late morning I fling the the lot of them as far as I can hoping they miss my jalopy and land in their own vehicle. Success and I clear the breakfast dishes, a la carte ‘n all that. The full whack with a wee tattie scone to enhance and soak up the grease. I get the dishes washed, pour a cup of strong black tea to settle the nerves and get my head facing forward again, have a 15 minute one to one with myself to explain why my wife is always under the weather and unable to assist on these occasions, kick myself for being conned – AGAIN – then flop down in my old arm chair next to the hole in the wall where once there was a fire – well, more accurately a fire place – get the feet up and get the wee plastic mouse to bring up the Dairy. All set for a complete change from my rage of yesterday. And what greets me? Your rage of today. So guess what? I am fucking raging again.
I know what it is like to want, with every fibre of my being, to be at every Celtic game. There was a time long, long ago in a distant galaxy when I almost did (I missed a lot of European away games simply because sometimes I could not afford them or get time off work) but domestically I have stood in grounds and in weather that Attenborough never dreamed of. I have travelled the length and breadth of the UK and even broke many a speed limit just to get a second half in the likes of far off Aberdeen and Stranraer – Cale and Ross were just Highland league then and a dual carriageway was a fencing bout on a stagecoach between Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. and Basil Rathbone on a fuzzy black and white screen. You know what I mean? If not, watch CTV. I went to every friendly whether a money maker for the then generally in the same financial league English clubs that knew where they could always pick up a welcome extra buck or two or just pre-season prep games. I went to them all. Over and above all this, I did what all you fathers and mothers do now, spend a fortune on outfits of all shapes and sizes for your kids. In fact, I am sure I paid for Willie Wallace’s transfer fee with my purchases :). There is not the same demand now the boys have grown up or, put another way, they are old enough now to buy their fucking own. Keeping them for 40 years and more is really pushing it even for someone as generous as myself. Besides, these apron strings keep tripping me up now they are so long.
Seriously, and I am now very serious, I really do feel for those guys ever-seas whose hearts are as sold to Celtic as mine, for memories of or never having the chance of watching Celtic in the flesh can never be compensated by even the most technically advanced communications and CTV would not know how to even spell the phrase. I know just how crap the audio commentary is (from the point of view of describing the game – and losing the signal more than is normal or acceptable – Northumberland might seem like the North Pole but it is actually nearer Scotland than Aberdeen (for the stray sheep) and they still cannot get it right half the time. It is a joy to hear Tommy Boyd or Mick McManus giving their views but the game should come first). I also hear the TV transmissions can be abominable too and these cost a lot of money relatively speaking. So, I am right with your remarks, Ralph. Celtic have performed miracles in my lifetime. They have produced football wonders. They have been and still are the joy of my sporting (for the sake of the wife) life. But every now and then – and sadly more frequently of late it seems – they are a disgrace when it comes to the treatment of fans. Simple marketing should tell them the business will not survive if they destroy or alienate their loyal customers and offer totally unattractive services to potential new ones. But above all, a family is on the road to perdition when lies become the accepted norm. If they do not believe us who are still their friends and allies, their family as they claim, then it is time someone hired a Parks bus and took them for a wee trip to Govan, preferable with Donald driving and commentating.
Many thanks for making me angry again. You are ever good for a laugh when I am already happy and a real suppressant when I am in the depths. Hope you never become a doctor 🙂
What has been said here in the Diary had to be said and needs to continue to be said. That is why it remains so important to us all.
H H
Ralph
I just knew that old grumpy monitor would not allow me two rants in one week. To be fair it was a pretty long one.
H H
The whole attitude of the board to this game and streaming takes us back to the days of White and Kelly when we played Borrussia, a total blackout was created to get the fans to the game.
If u need that then they are not fans, I travelled through South Ayrshire to get to the game on Wednesday night as I am sure many supporters travelled from all over the country.
The general attitude towards the fans is taken as a given, poor catering, shocking question in the rain to collect tickets for Wednesday’s game, not every ticket point was open about half, bugger the fools in the rain.
Facilities outside the stadium are non-existent except for the burger bars.
I sat up to 5 in the morning here in Melbourne to watch the hoops.I pay $40 a month to Celtic TV for the privilege to watch my team play. Instead I was treated to a poor audio stream.
This isn’t the first time I have been left irate at Celtic TV, and I’m sure my fellow overseas Tims know exactly what that’s like. This isn’t the first time that the hacking explanation has been rolled out. Simply, if a club cannot adequately provide a live stream with proficient security then it cannot charge a substantial amount of money for said service.
The good news is that my future father in law just brought me a magic wee box from China that gives me pretty much every major sporting channel in the world (Including Sky Sports and BT Sport) for $40 a YEAR.
So fuck Sky, fuck Foxtel and sadly fuck Celtic TV. This wee beauty is the future.
http://www.maigetv.com/en/p/74/maige-tv-hd3/?gclid=CjwKEAjwueytBRCmpOyZ2L-xrG8SJADwH5c62xjAUcQNrTk9gWDcDXB4oXNfaKzhRjNZp19U9QNB8xoCHorw_wcB
As far as I can see it is:
(a) Impossible to see what the next game is without having a subscription
(b) Impossible to see what the price is for the higher definition service (I received an email from Celtic TV a few weeks ago saying they would rectify this.
I am a previous subscriber (I stopped a year ago because the quality made it unwatchable), so I have a login, etc. But that gets me nowhere. The level of information is unacceptable. If I don’t know what I will get, how good it will be, or how much it will cost….well I’m not going to subscribe.
Tell you something else that pisses me off. The “internet charge” applied to purchase my own season seat for the Qarabag game – and any other game for that matter. They add the game electronically to your card so there’s no stamped addressed envelope to worry about and no employees time taken up processing the order. According to JP Taylor, all online and telesales ticket sales are subcontracted out (the telesales centre is in Manchester for fuck sake) and it is the sub contractor who scoops the £1.50 per sale, not the club. Supporters on the home cup ticket scheme do not get charged this fee, despite the effort involved in programming the turnstile to accept their card being the exact same as for mine. Fucking ridiculous.
So the half wits are out again with lets play fringe players.have they got short memories of last season when we dropped stupid points against piss poor opposition by playing weakened teams.how many of these youngsters have these people seen.First game of the season and we are not buggering off to foreign climes in search of money to bolster pirate pete,s bonus,and we should be getting off to a good start with no chances taken.
GORDON
FISHER(TOP CLASS NOT OR SHOULD NOT BE A FRINGE PLAYER)
VANDYCK
BOYATA
IZZY
BROWN
COMMONS
BITON
HENDERSON , MUCH BETTER THAN JOHANNSEN OR ARMSTRONG
MACKAY-STEVEN
GRIFFITHS
SUBS
BAILLY
JANKO
SCEPOVIC
ARMSTRONG
JOHANNSEN
ARMSTRONG
FORREST
See the superiority complex of Celtic season ticket holders against poor Celtic supporters who can’t afford it, is nothing short of a disgrace (Ed). I met someone yesterday who waited over 40 years to visit paradise, purely financial. CFC NOT PLC.
@schoosh71
What are you on about?
I signed up for live mathches. Iread all the small print and didnt see any thing that suggested that matches would be shown with delays when it suited Celtic. If it happens again i might consider just keeping my money.
I think the service and commentators when live is superb.
Well said Ralph & schoosh71…as I posted yesterday, there are, believe it or not, Celtic supporters who are at the bottom end of the financial income scale sometimes short term but many times long term, and they genuinely cannot afford to pay subscription fees so they watch on pirate streams. Not every pirate is a bad guy or a sponger….since when did being in bad straits financially lose a guy the right to find a way to watch a match?
Everything is blamed on the “hackers” or the “pirates”…the easy-off-the-tongue excuse by the club. They just wanted to squeeze every last penny out of the match and like all businessmen they absolutely fekking resent that some poor c*nt on an artificial lung should get a “lift over” to coin a phrase. Sheer corporate greed. I hope the Green Brigade have a huge embarrassing sign asking the club about New Balance…their silence is deafening!!! We are a family?…so were the Corleones. HH
pensionerbhoy. I wondered for years who stole my prized boots!