\u00a0<\/em>Thats enough to be going on with.<\/p>\n And don’t forget we’ve got oil.<\/p>\n I said we’ve got oil.<\/p>\n It’s going to be an interesting week.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The cost of failure to reach the Champions League group stages is highlighted in todays Evening Times. Just in case any of us weren’t already aware that we’ve jumped back into the slow lane. Actually, theres no such thing as a slow lane. The speed limit is the same in all three on a motorway, it just depends who’s driving, and how much excess weight you are carrying.<\/p>\n Ronnie Cully points out the obvious…<\/p>\n Last season – when Uefa payments, gate receipts and bonuses from sponsors were calculated – the Parkhead club banked more than \u00a322m for battling through two qualifying rounds and a play-off to book their spot in the group stage, where they won only one game, against Ajax.<\/em><\/p>\n The parachute down to the Europa League this season will be worth, at worst, less than a quarter of that, at just \u00a34m.<\/em><\/p>\n At best, it will be below half – but that’s only if they are good enough to go all the way to the final in Warsaw in May and collect the trophy. There is a total of \u00a3165m in the Europa League pot, after organisational and administrative costs have been deducted.<\/em><\/p>\n Compare that to the \u00a31.07billion sloshing around in the Champions League and Super Cup.<\/em><\/p>\n Celtic have already earned \u00a31,669,500 for reaching the Champions League play-offs, where they went out 2-1 on aggregate to Maribor.<\/em><\/p>\n For participating in the six group stage matches of the Europa League, against Red Bull Salzburg, Astra and Dinamo Zagreb, they will collect \u00a31,030,000.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Each win they record will be worth a further \u00a3159,000, while every draw will bring in \u00a379,500.<\/em><\/p>\n Progressing to the knockout stage in February will be worth a further \u00a3159,000.<\/em><\/p>\n Reaching the Round of 16 will bring a bonus of \u00a3278,250, with \u00a3357,750 for the quarter-finalists and \u00a3795,000 for the four semi-finalists.<\/em><\/p>\n The winners will collect \u00a33,975,000 with the runner-up pocketing \u00a31,987,500.<\/em><\/p>\n On top of this, each club participating in the Europa League receives a share of the Market Pool, which is based on TV contracts from all the countries.<\/em><\/p>\n Half of the \u00a366,382,500 from this pool is split according to how many teams from each association take part.<\/em><\/p>\n On this occasion, 26 countries are represented, so the share Celtic can expect is \u00a31,276,586.<\/em><\/p>\n The other half of the Market Pool is distributed according to how far you progress in the competition.<\/em><\/p>\n Along with all of this, of course, there is income from gate receipts, though, again, this will be substantially less than Celtic would have made if they had qualified for the Champions League.<\/em><\/p>\n The Hoops are marketing their three-game package at \u00a360, and have begun their ticket sale to season-book holders by allocating seats in the bottom tier of their three stands outwith the main stand, an indication of how tough they believe it will be to get anywhere near a capacity crowd.<\/em><\/p>\n However, while the financial returns may be significantly lower, dropping to the Europa League should at least afford the opportunity to accumulate some much-needed ranking points to move Celtic up the Uefa co-efficient table.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Thats more or less the article in full. The reason I have re-printed it is simple.<\/p>\n Apart from the last paragraph, I couldn’t care less about the money thats coming in. Yet the media-and the club -seem to think we are as bothered about it as they are.<\/p>\n We have already seen that no matter how much comes in it’s not being re-invested on the playing side. Hell, its not even being used to reward loyal and successful players for staying. The only bit that matters, and surely this is the bit the club, and the meduiia, should be concentrating on are the co-efficient points. There is a chance to rack a few up, and avoid the early starts to the season. The way the draws are fixed mean that apart from the champions, the other sides from Scotland have little chance of making the group stages. In recent years they have faced the likes of Real Sociedad and Liverpool before the season is even fully underway.<\/p>\n I know its an alien concept to our papers and radio stations, but a wee bit of support for the common cause wouldn’t go amiss.<\/p>\n Thursday game against Red Bull Salzburg may be hidden away due to other events that day, which is good. Te eyes of the press will be on the referendum, which means manager Ronny Deila-( just five mentions of ” Ronny”, instead of “Deila ” to go ) can focus on getting a result in Austria.<\/p>\n Ronny reckons there are some similarities between the two clubs;<\/p>\n \u201cThey are a good team who have used a lot of money to invest in youth and build a good side.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Struggling a wee bit to see a similarity there, but please, continue…<\/p>\n \u201cBut I respect the way they play. They\u2019ve worked on their system for many years\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Just like us ?<\/p>\n \u201cThey do play in the way I like to see, though.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Maybe he’s just not sure about the word “similarities ” .<\/p>\n However, its a new competition for us, and there are six games to play, no matter what. We should be too strong for the other sides, especially Red Bull who are going through a bit of a crisis at the moment, with three defeats in a row.<\/p>\n This might be what the pundits call ” a good time to play them ” . Ronny does seem a little less stressed about the tournament, hinting that he might not have enjoyed the knockout games….largely because we kept getting knocked out;<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is ready now and it is like a league so there are more chances to do it well.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat means you can play your own game more.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Its just finding out what our own game is….<\/p>\n \u201cThe main thing is the experience. We need to use it to be really ready for next year.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Er, he did inherit quite an experienced side. Will someone please point that out to him before it all goes tits again ?<\/p>\n \u00a0So, what do we know about Red Bull Salzburg ?<\/p>\n I have to admit , its not that bad an idea to have the sponsors name incorporated into the clubs name. Not for Celtic, of course, but one or two others could use it to raise money, especially clubs who are short of a bob or two. In fact, being in marketing myself, theres a cracking partnership along those lines just waiting to be exploited;<\/p>\n Especially as the product appears to cost roughly the same as shares in the club itself…<\/p>\n Well, the third entity to come out of Ibrox will need a name, and it’ll be looking for investors….<\/p>\n By the way, they’ve a Malaysian businessman looking to buy them now. Wait till he sees the books;<\/p>\n Sorry, Red Bull Salzburg….<\/p>\n Certainly one of the more colourful strips in football, although i’m not sure-brand name apart-why they’ve gone with the image of two bulls banging their heads together. Not exactly progressive, as both bulls will be out of action after the impending collision.<\/p>\n FC Red Bull Salzburg<\/b>\u00a0is an\u00a0Austrian association football<\/a>\u00a0club, based in\u00a0Wals-Siezenheim<\/a>. Their home ground is theRed Bull Arena<\/a>. Due to sponsorship restrictions, the club is known as\u00a0FC Salzburg<\/b>\u00a0and wears a modified crest when playing in UEFA competitions.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n The club was known as\u00a0SV Austria Salzburg<\/b>, and had several sponsored names, before being bought by the\u00a0Red Bull<\/a>company in 2005 who renamed the club and changed its colours from its traditional violet and white to red and white. The change resulted in some of the team’s fans forming a new club,\u00a0SV Austria Salzburg<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Founded in 1933, the club won its first\u00a0Austrian Bundesliga<\/a>\u00a0in 1994, which was the first of three in the space of four seasons which also saw them reach the\u00a01994 UEFA Cup Final<\/a>. The team currently has eight league titles to its name.<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a0<\/span>Red Bull<\/a>\u00a0company bought the club on 6 April 2005 and\u00a0<\/span>rebranded it<\/a>. After the takeover, Red Bull changed the club’s name, management, and staff, declaring “this is a new club with no history.” \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Can’t see that catching on closer to home.<\/p>\n \u00a0Red Bull initially claimed on the club website that the club was founded in 2005, but was ordered to remove this claim by the Austrian F.A. The new authority removed all trace of violet from the club logo and the team now play in the colours of red and white, to the consternation of much of the club’s traditional support.[19]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0A small pair of wings form the motif of the new club crest, displayed on the team jersey, in accordance with Red Bull’s commercial slogan at the time: “It gives you wings.” This complete re-branding of the team proved very similar to Red Bull’s treatment of its two\u00a0Formula One<\/a>\u00a0racing teams,\u00a0Red Bull Racing<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Scuderia Toro Rosso<\/a>. However, Red Bull would not completely follow this precedent when it acquired the\u00a0MetroStars<\/a>\u00a0club in\u00a0Major League Soccer<\/a>\u00a0in the United States; while it rebranded the team as the\u00a0New York Red Bulls<\/a>, it chose to recognise the MetroStars’ history.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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