Despite the plethora of bizarre and inconsistent decisions by referees last weekend, little or nothing has been said in the media.
It’s only October and already we’re seeing more than usual “honest mistakes “, which given the money up for grabs with a guaranteed UCL spot next season, and when you look back at similar patterns around similar circumstances down the years, then it’s not too hard to work out why it’s happening.
With rumours persisting that the Ibrox club/company are technically insolvent with losses of around £31m, the drive to save them will intensify, and with no one prepared to invest enough money to clear the debts, including their support, the money has to come from somewhere, and the Champions League windfall seems the safest bet.
After all, imagine the attention the world would pay to another Ibrox liquidation….serious journalists may have figured that with corruption endemic in football, Scotland wasn’t worth bothering with, but a second insolvency event might attract attention.
Even if it didn’t, sponsorship and external investment would vanish overnight, as no one would be remotely interested in putting their name to a rigged game.
Even shirt sponsorship is under threat, with bookmakers names and logos soon to be excluded from strips, and that money has to be replaced somehow.
The Old Firm brand has to survive, according to those who run our game, and indeed those who run our club.
For some absurd reason, they think it’s all we have, even if we don’t actually have it any more.
And obviously nothing has been said by anyone at Celtic, and therefore one could be forgiven when thinking that we are all sleepwalking into another episode of corruption and collusion in Scottish football.
Then again, one wonders if the Celtic board are sleepwalking, as they seem to be perfectly aware of what happened last time, even though the party line was that they hadn’t seen the five way agreement, the document that replaced the rules and regulations of association football so deeply cherished everywhere else, despite the signatories sending it to them.
At the 2019 AGM, the then CEO Peter Lawwell was asked if he or anyone at Celtic was involved with the agreement, and he replied;
No and I’ve never seen it
Which at the very least, at the time, was surprising.
As such an agreement, which has been widely circulated on the internet, directly affected the business and shareholders that were his responsibility, you’d have thought that even if he hadn’t seen it at the time, he’d have wanted to once made aware of it.
And then swung into action, on behalf of the club, it’s shareholders and supporters.
He didn’t.
And now he’s gone, forever to be remembered as the man who sold the shirts.
In came Dominic McKay, who it appears wanted to fight our corner, and now he’s gone, forever to be remembered as the man who didn’t even have time to be fitted for a shirt.
Which leaves us pretty much where we were the last time there were whispers of financial problems at Ibrox, leaderless and at the mercy of those who would perpetuate the Old Firm brand no matter what the cost to integrity , honesty and fairness.
So, what do we do ?
This was one of the replies to Tuesday’s diary, which gives us a cause to rally round….
To increase the chances of addressing the issues happening the numbers seeking answers must be big.
An excuse for not pursuing Res12 was not enough supporters/shareholders cared. Only a small dedicated group of around 130 persisted after 2019 AGM.
However that was when we were winning which is no longer the case, so there is an opportunity now to make things happen that should not be dismissed by thinking nothing will happen. I do not mean you personally Terence, I appreciate many do from years of frustration but circumstances now favour shareholders and supporters than at any time as a result of them being more informed and asking questions about the SFA that we expect Celtic to ask.
One of the problems the AGM route to accountability has though is that it is open to shareholders only via the medium of Resolutions making a case to The Board and seeking answers.
The CST now have around 1000 members who are shareholders who, after The CST voted to adopt a A Note of Concern resolution with has cast iron reasons to justify those concerns and following legal advice, CST Members have been asked to sign the requisition to have it added to the next Celtic AGM agenda, as a result of which it will go public.
The minimum requisitions required is 100 and from a CST membership of 1000 that should be achievable, but more are needed, much more and although some/many ST Holders do not carry any votes they are in fact the most powerful force for change of Celtic, a force that has to be harnessed without ST holders having to join the CST to do so and a way to let them support the Note of Concern Resolution after it is lodged is being explored.
The details of the Resolution sent to CST members will be made more public soon in order to find those Celtic shareholders who are not CST members to support the Resolution. There is no need to be a CST subscriber to do so, although the work put into The Note of Concern by the new members of the CST might be persuasive, but this is not a recruitment exercise.
It is about bringing this Celtic Board to account for the shoddy manner they treat Celtic shareholders and supporters but also with the intent of providing a platform from which Celtic with a supporters and shareholders united behind it, can not only move Celtic onwards but upwards and arrest the steady decline of a great club since 2012.
If you are a Celtic shareholder but not a CST member and want to consider supporting the Note of Concern Resolution now, then e mail The Celtic Trust at trust@celtictrust.net and ask if they can direct you to where the Resolution document can be read and downloaded for action.