Celtic Diary Thursday November 28

They face nearly half a year of ticking off the wins to complete the formality of landing another league championship, and then maybe a double. Such is their domination of the top flight that people correctly fear boredom. There is no need to get the little violins out for them – every other club in the land would kill to be in their shoes – but Celtic have given themselves such highs over the past 18 months that there is not enough of a kick to be had from winning a title without Rangers. ”

Of course ! Thats the problem! No Rangers !

If only we had had the foresight to bail out and forgive the tax dodging cheats before they died then none of this would have happened.

While Celtic bore us all to tears by winning everything in sight ( except the League Cup ), the Rangers tribute act are storming up the leagues setting records and thrilling us all by outplaying part timers. Comparing the reaction of the press to the two scenarios tells us all we ever needed to know about their loyalties.

Anyway, if you want to know how others see us, the game itself passed into insignificance as the Green Brigades banners hogged the headlines worldwide.

The banner shows William Wallace, the heroic rebel Scot who stood for freedom and independence from England and met an untimely and brutal end at the hands of the oppressors. Alongside him was Bobby Sands, a heroic rebel Irishman who stood for freedom and independence from England and met an untimely and brutal end at the hands of his oppressors.

And asked the question ” Terrorist or Dreamer ? ”

Good banner, and a good point well made. Unfortunately, whereas William Wallace had his exaggerated story portrayed by Mel Gibson in a Holly wood blockbuster, thus elevating him to iconic status, Sands had his story told in a low budget and ultimately disappointing film which pretty much went straight to dvd.

Both men died for their country, but they have received different reviews.

So, outside of Celtic Park, the banner, which made a good point but at the wrong time and place, was seen as an embarrassment.

NBC Sport, in the USA , reported;

” UEFA and Celtic are reacting in unison to pro-Irish Republican Army banners unveiled by the club’s fans at Tuesday’s Champions League match against Milan. There, in the section occupied by the Green Brigade supporters group, tifo equating IRA activist Bobby Sands with Scottish revolutionary WilliamWallace was unveiled during Tuesday’s pre-mathc ceremonies.

“The terrorist or the dreamer,” the display asks, individual lyrics appearing around large portraits of Wallace and Sands. “The savage or the brave? Depends whose vote you’re trying to catch or whose face you’re trying to save.”

SBS World News ;

Celtic fans who unfurled a banner of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands at Tuesday’s Champions League loss to AC Milan – prompting a UEFA charge – are disrespecting the club, chief executive Peter Lawwell said on Wednesday.

Thats not what he said exactly, but the chance to associate the club with the IRA didn’t go unmissed.

Lawwells comments did not specifically mention the IRA.

“Last night (Tuesday) was nothing more than clear disrespect for the club and our supporters who now face another Uefa charge,” Lawwell said

“There have now been a number of Uefa charges made against the club during the last three years, relating to behaviour, displays and pyrotechnics – it cannot go on any further. Let’s be very clear. Following the actions of a small minority, these charges are made against the club.

“It is the reputation of Celtic, our great club and our great fans which is damaged, while others carry on indulging in such behaviour. Our supporters do not want this any more. We are a non-political organisation, a top football club in fantastic shape, aiming to play its part as a major football club on the European stage.

“Regardless of the political views people hold, football stadia, whether it is Celtic Park or anywhere else, should not be used to promote these. This is something which all football authorities, including Uefa, have stressed for some time and something well known by all supporters.

“The club don’t want it, our manager and our team don’t want it, our fans don’t want it and the football authorities don’t want it – it has to stop.”

The club faces charges under UEFA rules, which state a ban on;

“the use of gestures, words, objects or any other means to transmit any message not fit for a sports event, particularly messages of a political, ideological, religious, offensive or provocative nature.”

And no matter how important the point is, or how accurate, thems the rules.

Still, I suppose we could just give UEFA their money back and tell them we don’t want to play in their tournaments anymore.

A statement on the club website said;

“Any individual or group identified as being involved in a political display at a Celtic match will be banned from attending matches involving the club.

“With regard to last night, the club made it abundantly clear to the group in question only football-related displays would be permitted and a political display would lead to a UEFA charge.

“We were assured all displays would be 100 per cent relevant to Celtic. Therefore the actions of this group are very disappointing. We have been inundated with complaints from Celtic fans regarding the display.”

This was an own goal by the Green Brigade, a banner which should have made people sit up and think has now been condemned as pro terrorist.

Of course, it wasn’t , but there is a feeling that a great opportunity to make a valid and important point has been wasted.

And it doesn’t look like there’ll be a second chance. Lawwell will ban them, and they cannot say they weren’t warned.

Despite all the joking about the bloody drum, they will be missed.

Remember the quiz yesterday ? The meteor about to strike. Well it might land right outside Celtic Park. Which could tidy the surrounding area up a bit.

With the financial scandal at Ibrox about to move into the endgame, deflection is needed to keep as much attention away from the now defunct club which was allowed to cheat, lie and steal virtually unchallenged for years.

And here it is, courtesy of the Daily Mail money section;

” The Co-op Bank has come under fire for dishing out £33.2million in cheap loans and overdrafts to Celtic Football Club, which was chaired by former Labour home secretary John Reid.

MPs last night demanded an explanation for the rock bottom interest rates and accused the mutual of using the ‘hard-earned cash of millions of savers for political gain’.

It is the latest twist in the row over the troubled lender’s links with the Labour Party.

Glasgow-based Celtic was chaired by Lord Reid, the former home secretary under Tony Blair, between 2007 and 2011.

Labour’s former energy minister Brian Wilson joined the Celtic board in 2005 and remains a director.
Insiders said the loan pre-dates both Wilson and Reid’s arrival at the club.

But Celtic has long-established links with Labour, which has controlled Glasgow City Council since the 1970s.

The latest company accounts for Celtic show it has a £12million overdraft facility charging an average of 1.5 per cent over the year to June 30 2013.

This is based on one percentage point above the Bank of England’s base rate, which is currently 0.5 per cent.

The remainder is made up of a £21.2million long-term loan, with an average rate of 1.65 per cent. This makes even Labour’s recent £1.2million cheap loan at 4 per cent – or 3.5 per cent above Base Rate – look expensive.

Co-op’s hugely generous terms once again highlight the close links between the scandal-hit lender and the upper echelons of the Labour Party.

The political connection has come under the spotlight after former Labour councillor and former Co-op Bank chairman the Reverend Paul Flowers was caught out allegedly organising drug-fuelled orgies with rent boys.

Mark Garnier, the Conservative MP and member of the Treasury Select Committee, said: ‘The questions about Labour’s influence over the management of the Co-op knows no limit. It now seems that cheap loans are available to organisations where Labour ministers have significant influence as well as directly to the Labour Party itself.’

He added: Why were Labour and their friends receiving cheap loans? What political outcomes was the Co-op trying to buy? Were the millions of savers at the Co-op bank told their hard-earned cash was being used for political gain? Have any of the Labour-related soft loans contributed to the £1.5billion black hole in the Co-op balance sheet?’

The first deadline to vote on a rescue package to plug a £1.5billion black hole in the lender’s finances falls at 4.30pm on Friday.

The Co-operative Party, the political wing of the Co-op, is the sister party of Labour.

In order to help shore up its finances Co-op Bank stopped lending to small firms in May.
Anyone else wondering if this has the hands of Mediahouse all over it ? Well, its  clearly been planted by someone who doesn’t have Celtics best interests at heart. Or the Co-ops, for that matter.

The antics of the Co-op boss and former Labour man who blew all their money and enjoyed a rather outgoing lifestyle have served to help the conservative press keep attention away from their own friends in finance who have been at it.

So, everbodys happy there.

Way, way back when all the troubles at Old Rangers began to emerge, the diary said they would go down kicking and biting and try to take everyone else down with them.

Looks like its starting to happen, so the end must be very close indeed.

This is from the Mail as well. Just to get their ramblings into some kind of context. Entirely irrelevant to this story, but always worth mentioning whenever I can.

and here is a very nasty man who tried very hard to impress his own extreme right wing views on the people of Britain an Europe back in the thirties.

His name is Harold Harmsworth, or Viscount Rothermere, the then owner of the Mail. Dunno who the other guy is, but he looks like a wrong ‘un.

We’ve a podcast tonight, so anything you want to add, mention it here or on twitter. The comments to yesterdays diary were all of a very high quality and will probably form the basis of the post match inquest.

We’ll be talking about the Milan game, and all the fallout. And anything else we can think of. Or anything you can think of.

Now, what game is this, and why would the memory of it have re surfaced this week.

Its a funny old time in the news.

For instance, we have Nigella Lawson, off her tits, snorting cocaine. Thats a major story, and I couldn’t care less.

But, if it was Nigella Lawson, snorting cocaine  off her tits, perhaps I might give it a passing glance. Someone needs to look at how they present their stories.

Poor girl, I believe she is inconsolable after splitting with her husband Charles Saatchi.

Last I heard, she was running through the streets crying and asking where her Charlie was.