{"id":16227,"date":"2020-10-28T10:31:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T10:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=16227"},"modified":"2020-10-28T10:31:31","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T10:31:31","slug":"celtic-diary-wednesday-october-28-multiplying-the-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=16227","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Wednesday October 28: Multiplying The Divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s perfectly clear that those paid to run the game and those who are paid to comment on it do not want to see Celtic win a tenth consecutive title. That may come across as slightly paranoid, but you’d be paranoid of everyone was out to take away what you have.<\/p>\n

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What we have is a team that has ruthlessly dominated Scottish football for almost a decade, and in the last few years won every trophy that is up for grabs.<\/p>\n

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Unprecedented, and some would say that is bad for the game, bad for business.<\/p>\n

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Especially those who earn a living indirectly from the game. If it’s seen as uncompetitive, its deemed to be unattractive, predictable and even boring.<\/p>\n

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Somewhere, sometime over the last couple of months, some people got together in a darkened and smoky room to see what they could do about it…<\/p>\n

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What appears to have been decided is that at the first sign of weakness they would pounce, they would divide the Celtic support. They would cause unrest and construct a narrative designed to further weaken the cause, and make subjects such as the dismissal of the manager, the demise of Scott Brown and the quality of the new signings a major issue, and attempt to polarise an otherwise fully supportive fan base.<\/p>\n

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My suspicions were confirmed when Tom English, the token non-EBT recipient at the BBC, came out with this…<\/p>\n

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‘He doesn’t really need Celtic fans support when they’ve won 10, 11, 12, 13 trophies in a row. He needs their support when they’re in a little dip’\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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He’s absolutely right, which in itself is unusual for him, and one has to ask why he’s suddenly talking sense.<\/p>\n

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In doing so, he’s stirring an already frothing pot by subtly having a go at fans whose immediate response would be to defend their own hysteria, and causing those who agree with him to align themselves for the civil war.<\/p>\n

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Elsehwere on the site, there are other articles which outline the case for maybe taking a step back and looking at where we really are, and it’s difficult to disagree with them.<\/p>\n

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Covid, and i know i keep coming back to this, has altered this season and society in a way that probably will be permanent, and it’s upset the gentle balance and therefore relationship between the club and the fans.<\/p>\n

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The unspoken rule is that in the ground, we support the team, and later, on social media or in the bar, we criticise them.<\/p>\n

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Then we go back to our normal lives until the next game, and the process starts all over.<\/p>\n

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We’re not in the ground, and don;t look likely to be there for some time, so the supportive aspect of the relationship has gone.<\/p>\n

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On social media ,and on forums and phone ins, the criticism spirals out of control.<\/p>\n

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Day after day, week after week all that we hear is criticism, fuelled by a media desperate to see Celtic fail.<\/p>\n

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that was also evident in yesterday’s Daily Record , when they “reported ” on the financial report issued by Celtic PLC…<\/p>\n

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Celtic take \u00a313m Covid revenue hit as Kieran Tierney sale can’t stop Parkhead cash blow<\/h2>\n

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that was the main headline, dwarfing the really important bit below…<\/p>\n

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The accounts were in the black by \u00a3100,000 despite the coronavirus shutdown.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Of course revenue will be down, it will be everywhere, but one has to wonder at the motive behind the forensic, if not entirely realistic, wording of what is actually quite an achievement, given the circumstances of the day.<\/p>\n

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Celtic have announced a \u00a313million crash in revenue for the 2019-20 season \u2013 as the sale of\u00a0Kieran Tierney<\/a>\u00a0just pushed the accounts into the black amid the Covid crisis.<\/em><\/p>\n

Clubs across football have been financially impacted by the shutdown, with the\u00a0Premiership<\/a>\u00a0season ended early.<\/em><\/p>\n

The impact of the pandemic has been laid bare in\u00a0Celtic<\/a>\u00a0‘s accounts as revenues fell 15.8 per cent to \u00a370.2m against \u00a383.4m.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Parkhead club were still able to post a \u00a3100,000 pre-tax profit for the year, largely thanks to the sale of Kieran Tierney to\u00a0Arsenal<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The accounts show the Scotland international brought in \u00a324.2m, with income from player sales increasing from \u00a317.7m for the 2018-19 season.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Reporter Gabriel Mackay, presumably still smarting that his parents wanted a girl and decided to name him as one anyway, mentions a “crash “, and that Celtic were “impacted ” as a result of the pandemic, and that the disaster has been “laid bare ” in the books, hinting that if it wasn’t for the sale of Keiran Tierney, who remember wanted to go and it is company policy to sell players who want to go, then we’d have to have our own asset sale and come back as “The Celtic “.<\/div>\n
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Even though a profit was posted, he added..<\/div>\n
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Profit was significantly down, however, on the \u00a311.3m up to June 30 2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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\u00a0Remember, these accounts don’t include any money from Adidas and the shirt sales last summer…<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Mackay then gave a sort of doom laden round up of the statement….<\/div>\n
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Celtic also spent \u00a320.7m buying players, a significant increase on the \u00a36.2m the previous season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Investing in the future, spending ambitiously, deternined to hold on to their dominance…er, no, it’s a subtle criticism, as compared to say what he might have said about another club\/company investing on the field<\/p>\n

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The Premiership champions also saw their cash in the bank take a \u00a310m hit as cash net of bank borrowings sank from \u00a328.6m to \u00a318.2m.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In fairness, he probably doesn’t understand the concept of paying back loans or any other bills…. It;s not the done thing with at at least one other Glasgow club\/company<\/p>\n

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That led the club to increase its revolving credit facility from \u00a32m to \u00a313m after the end of the financial year.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Or created a rainy day fund should things get any worse …perhaps another way of putting it, and again, raising a loan facility is entirely alien to some club\/companies, largely because the bank won’t let them.<\/p>\n

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The accounts are made up to June 30 so the impact of Celtic Park being closed to spectators, as well as this summer’s signings, will not be felt until the next set of accounts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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It’s almost as though he’s forgotten that the league and Cup were suspended way before June 30…. or chosen to forget, so there would have been a considerable impact at losing a potential cup final, quadruple treble, and of course, the second nine in a row and all the match day and memorabilia associated with such events.<\/p>\n

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The result of such an article ?<\/p>\n

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Our support will largely call it for what it is, bollocks, but the subject is out there, and further doubt is sown.<\/p>\n

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He implies Celtic are in trouble, but at no point does he mention what should be a major concern, and that is the wider question of if Celtic have taken this big a hit, how much doo doo are the other clubs in ?<\/p>\n

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Again, its about creating division in what should be a time of unity.<\/p>\n

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All of that is before we even mention the piss poor radio phone ins, which take place every night and are encouraging the more extreme views by giving them airtime, and even though nearly all of the content aired is complete bollocks, it still provokes discussion…very similar to the Diary in that respect, but at least we like a laugh.<\/p>\n

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It’s all more than a little sinister, and perhaps I am being paranoid, but history has taught us we were simply not paranoid enough.<\/p>\n

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If, however, you need cheering up, and we all do, then go to the BBC sounds app and find last sunday’s edition of File on four, which is part of an investigation into the use of loans instead of salary to pay employees.<\/p>\n

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Take note of the unscrupulous behaviour of tax advisors, and the money they made.<\/p>\n

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Also , when you see who they claim is behind the scam, you will wonder exactly how deep the whole Rangers meltdown goes into Scottish society, and you will shed a tear for those poor ET recipients who are still to be hit with the “loan charge “, as well as back taxes and interest.<\/p>\n

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Well, when I say shed a tear what I mean\u00a0 is laugh yourself into the accident and emergency ward to get your ribs mended.<\/p>\n

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In the meantime, ponder these words, from the pen of journalist Kevin McCarra, who sadly passed away this week…<\/p>\n

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“Celtic is a tale of adventure, success, failure, exasperation and hope that will never cease to unfold.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Let’s be honest, we wouldn’t have it any other way….as long as we’re all in it together, and a word of warning to those who are trying to divide us…if you multiply divisions, all you do is end up back where you started.<\/p>\n

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And now, we’ll rally around a caption competition, to bring laughter and comfort back into our lives…<\/p>\n

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The last one, last Saturday, was this…<\/p>\n

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\"Image\"<\/p>\n

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BornCelt!<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a04 days ago<\/em><\/div>\n
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Caption \u2013 But Gavin, I think you are taking this a wee bit too far when Lenny told you to be quiet, take a seat and be off with you. HH!\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Today…<\/p>\n

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