{"id":7842,"date":"2015-10-01T10:12:28","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T09:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7842"},"modified":"2015-10-01T10:12:28","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T09:12:28","slug":"celtic-diary-thursday-october-1-desmond-shows-how-long-hes-been-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=7842","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Thursday October 1: Desmond Shows How Long He’s Been Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

With so many crucial games already this season, each champion’s League qualifier having taken on the title of a “season definer “, it’s no surprise that the media have struggled to come up with a bad news story in time for the Fenerbahce game.<\/p>\n

No worries.<\/p>\n

Dermot Desmond can always be relied on to get the support, er , talking.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Doo Lally Dermot, still hankering after the money available in the English League, reckons that ;<\/p>\n

\u00a0in 10 years\u2019 time,…… there will be a British Premiership.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Which is pretty much what he said ten years ago, although at least then he helped to build a team capable of competing in it.<\/p>\n

This time round, his words have received massive coverage throughout the world, which i suppose raises awarem=ness of the club, if not actual respect.<\/p>\n

Except, showing a remarkable ignorance of company law, he proclaimed that Rangers, who went out of business in 2012, would be in the new league alongside Celtic.<\/p>\n

He told sky sports;<\/p>\n

“We would like to compete in the Holy Grail in England.<\/em><\/p>\n

“It will bring money into Scotland and rekindle football in Scotland having (Manchester) United, Arsenal and others.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Maybe it’s going to be 10 years but it’s inevitable.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Rangers and Celtic are among the top 10 teams in Britain and some of the biggest teams in the world and they should be competing at the highest level.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>“It’s inevitable there will be changes.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

One change springs to mind.<\/p>\n

Give us a smile as you wave us goodbye, Dermot;<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

for someone who claims to have the club’s best interest at heart, he’s proved remarkably adept at not giving a toss about what the fans want.<\/p>\n

Alarmingly, he implies that the unique fiscal policies of Former rivals Rangers should just be ignored, and the new club allowed to slip unpunished and unnoticed into the slot vacated by the old one when it was liquidated.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Celtic supporters will not, and cannot allow this.<\/p>\n

Scottish football supporters cannot and will not allow this.<\/p>\n

Desmond doesn’t come to the east end of Glasgow very often. Least of all to watch the football.<\/p>\n

Maybe he’d be better off staying away for good if he’s going to come out with nonsense like this.<\/p>\n

Somewhat upsettingly, he still holds the reigns of power at Celtic , although that’s what the Kelly’s and the White’s thought as well, so in order to make us feel he’s a little more hands on, he told us he had faith in the manager,-happily remembering his full name-and even named a couple of players in the squad who he felt had improved;<\/p>\n

Deila has got two trophies under his belt and I think we can see from the good work he\u2019s done with a lot of the players have come on, In the current squad if you take [Tom] Rogic and [Nir] Bitton have made considerable improvement and a lot of other players have made considerably improvement under Ronny\u2019s guidance.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Dermot, his first name is Ronny.<\/p>\n

“So I feel very confident he\u2019ll continue to improve all the teams at Celtic. I\u2019m very confident at Ronny\u2019s future at Celtic. I\u2019m confident the best of Ronny Deila and the best of Celtic is to come,”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Cheers.<\/p>\n

Struggled with the first names of the two players , though.<\/p>\n

He’ll be away back to the golf, or whatever else he does. Confident in his own mind that he’s reassured the fans, relaxed the manager and impressed the players.<\/p>\n

In reality, he’s isolated himself from the fans.<\/p>\n

And we all know how that usually ends up.<\/p>\n

We were here before him, and we’ll be here when he’s gone.<\/p>\n

And the sooner the better.<\/p>\n

But, it’s the action on the field that concerns us today, as Turkish side Fenerbahce arrive in town, desperate to kickstart their Europa campaign.<\/p>\n

Celtic have never played a Turkish side in European competition before, and \u00a0it’s worth having a wee look at Fenerbahce, because noticably none of the media can be arsed doing it.<\/p>\n

Oh , hang on. someone wants to say something…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Forget it, Dermot. Even a sock on a stick won’t save you now.<\/p>\n

So, Fenerbahce….<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fenerbah\u00e7e Spor Kul\u00fcb\u00fc<\/b>\u00a0(<\/span>Turkish pronunciation:\u00a0<\/small>[fe\u02c8n\u025brbaht\u0361\u0283e]<\/a><\/span>, Fenerbah\u00e7e Sports Club), also known as\u00a0<\/span>Fenerbah\u00e7e<\/b>\u00a0and<\/span>Fener<\/b>, is a professional\u00a0<\/span>football<\/a>\u00a0team based in\u00a0<\/span>Istanbul<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Turkey<\/a>, and a branch of the larger\u00a0<\/span>Fenerbah\u00e7e Sports Club<\/a>. Founded in 1907 by a group of local men, it is one of the most successful and best supported football team in Turkey,<\/span>[2]<\/a><\/sup>[3]<\/a><\/sup>having\u00a0<\/span>never been relegated<\/a>\u00a0to lower divisions, and currently competes in the\u00a0<\/span>S\u00fcper Lig<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>Turkish Cup<\/a>. It is nicknamed\u00a0<\/span>Sar\u0131 Kanaryalar\u00a0(<\/span>Turkish<\/a>\u00a0for “Yellow Canaries”) and plays its home games at\u00a0<\/span>\u015e\u00fckr\u00fc Saraco\u011flu Stadium<\/a>\u00a0in<\/span>Kad\u0131k\u00f6y<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Istanbul<\/a>. Fenerbah\u00e7e has won 19\u00a0<\/span>S\u00fcper Lig<\/a>\u00a0trophies, in addition to 6\u00a0<\/span>Turkish Cups<\/a>, 9\u00a0<\/span>Turkish Super Cups<\/a>, 8<\/span>Chancellor Cups<\/a>\u00a0and 12\u00a0<\/span>TSYD Cup<\/a>\u00a0trophies. In international club football, Fenerbah\u00e7e has won one\u00a0<\/span>Balkans Cup<\/a>\u00a0trophy.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Ah, but what of the General Harington cup, I hear you ask….<\/p>\n

The General Harington Cup is considered as the most valuable cup for\u00a0<\/span>Turkish<\/a>\u00a0multisport club\u00a0<\/span>Fenerbah\u00e7e<\/a>\u00a0at the Fenerbah\u00e7e Museum in Istanbul, due to its historic significance and the circumstances in which it was won. At the end of\u00a0<\/span>World War I<\/a>, the\u00a0<\/span>Ottoman Empire<\/a>\u00a0was defeated and its lands were invaded by\u00a0<\/span>Italian<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>French<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Greek<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>British<\/a>\u00a0troops. On 13 November 1918, British troops entered\u00a0<\/span>Istanbul<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span>invasion<\/a>\u00a0became official. During the course of the invasion, British troops arranged football matches with local teams. This is still a common policy conducted by troops in foreign lands, for improving\u00a0<\/span>public relations<\/a>\u00a0with the local population. Fenerbah\u00e7e took part in the tournament and won 41 of 50 games played, losing only 4 games, while 5 games ended with a draw. Fenerbah\u00e7e was secretly moving guns to\u00a0<\/span>Anatolia<\/a>\u00a0from its club building near Kurba\u011fal\u0131dere Creek on the\u00a0<\/span>Sea of Marmara<\/a>\u00a0coast by small boats. The club’s players were also going to the fronts, fighting against the invading troops, returning to Istanbul to play games and moving more guns and ammunition. The British forces realized this as well, so they raided the club building; but club members got early information about the raid, so the guns and ammunition were moved and hidden in the club members’ houses or warehouses. The invasion forces were not able to find anything, but they stayed in the club building for several days to prevent further action. The commander-in-chief of the British forces in Istanbul was\u00a0<\/span>General Charles Harrington<\/a>, who was quite upset with this progress. He was looking for victory on the pitch as well as the war itself, while\u00a0<\/span>Turkish people<\/a>\u00a0were\u00a0<\/span>fighting all over the country<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0The British Army, making friends all over the world, except in the places they go to.<\/p>\n

In 2012-13, Fener had an impressive run to the semi finals of the europa League, so maybe Raul Merlies, who commented earlier in the week that the club wants to win the trophy, gave a realistic indicator of how seriously they are taking this game.<\/p>\n

During that run, there were more than a few good results…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Group Stage
\n(Group C)<\/td>\n		\"France\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Marseille<\/a><\/td>\n2<\/b>\u20132<\/td>\n0\u20131<\/b><\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Germany\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0M\u00f6nchengladbach<\/a><\/td>\n0<\/b>\u20133<\/td>\n2\u20134<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Cyprus\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0AEL<\/a><\/td>\n2<\/b>\u20130<\/td>\n0\u20131<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Round of 32<\/td>\n\"Belarus\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0BATE<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/b>\u20130<\/td>\n0\u20130<\/b><\/td>\n1<\/b>\u20130<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Round of 16<\/td>\n\"Czech<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Viktoria Plze\u0148<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/b>\u20131<\/td>\n0\u20131<\/b><\/td>\n2<\/b>\u20131<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quarter-finals<\/td>\n\"Italy\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Lazio<\/a><\/td>\n2<\/b>\u20130<\/td>\n1\u20131<\/b><\/td>\n3<\/b>\u20131<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Semi-finals<\/b><\/td>\n\"Portugal\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Benfica<\/a><\/td>\n1<\/b>\u20130<\/td>\n3\u20131<\/b><\/td>\n2<\/b>\u20133<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The following year there was a win over Red Bull salzburg in the qualifier for the UCL, before a 5-0 aggregate drubbing from Arsenal in the play off.<\/p>\n

Then it all went a bit pear shaped…<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Fenerbahce lost the appeal against the decision of\u00a0UEFA<\/a>\u00a0to withdraw them from the\u00a0Champions League<\/a>\u00a0due to the\u00a02011 Turkish sports corruption scandal<\/a>. It has been banned from the\u00a02013-14 UEFA Europa League<\/a>\u00a0(after losing to\u00a0Arsenal<\/a>) and from all european competitions for the 2014-15 season.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

But now they are back. this year, they were dismissed from the UCL by Shakhtor Donetsk, losing 3-0 over the two games. Well one game, really. the other was 0-0.<\/p>\n

Dropping into the Europa, they overcame Greek side Atromitis fairly comfortably to make the group stages, where they opened wth a 3-1 home defeat to Molde, much to the delight of bookies throughout Scotland.<\/p>\n

What went wrong in that game ?<\/p>\n

This is the UEFA.com report on the match;<\/p>\n

Fenerbah\u00e7e’s all-star squad were stunned in their opening UEFA Europa League Group A game, spirited Norwegian champions Molde coming out on top in Istanbul.<\/em><\/p>\n

The hosts created some decent chances for Robin van Persie in the first half-hour, but were upstaged on 36 minutes after visiting captain Daniel Hestad was fouled in the box. Tommy H\u00f8iland stepped up to send a cool, Panenka-style penalty into the centre of the goal as goalkeeper Fabiano dived to his right.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nani equalised six minutes later, providing a delicate first-time volley to send Raul Meireles’s lofted ball into the net, but Molde did not despair. Eight minutes into the second half, H\u00f8iland sent in a wicked cross from the right and Mohamed Elyounoussi evaded his marker to power the ball past Fabiano.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a9AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n

Mohamed Elyounoussi celebrates<\/p>\n

<\/span>H\u00f8iland almost put the game to bed on 64 minutes, but his low shot from the right clattered into the post. However, Erling Moe’s side did not have to wait too long for their third, right-back Martin Linnes cutting inside from his flank to fire a long-range drive low into the bottom corner with his left foot. Elyounoussi’s dismissal for a second booking late on took none of the gloss off a startling result.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Stealing the show<\/strong><\/em>
\nAll eyes were on former Manchester United aces Nani and Van Persie, but H\u00f8iland and Elyounoussi stole their thunder, the Molde attacking duo proving to be mobile as well as physically imposing. Fenerbah\u00e7e’s defence seemingly did not know what had hit them.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve done the bit in bold there.<\/p>\n

It may well be the reason for the result, as Fener dominated possession and appear to have been caught out by three precise and well worked attacks-known as a “St. Johnstone at Ibrox ” , in Scotland.<\/p>\n

a number of fans expect Celtic to roll over the Turks, but that isn’t going to happen. They need a result, possibly even coming to play for the draw.<\/p>\n

\u00a0They have a number of quality players in their line up, robin van Persie notably, and don’t pay any attention to the talk of his rift with the boss. That’s more than likely just mind games.<\/p>\n

Even if the Dutchman wants out, he will perform in european games, if only to get himself a ticket elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Whe Celtic host any European game, I’m always more confident than not of a result, but this time I have a fear that the defence, especially, is not ready for this one.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Gordon has proved himself, and Lustig and Ambrose can cope, but with no Izaguirre and possibly Dedryck boyata making up the back five, then we could well be watching the game through our fingers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Scott Brown, Nir Biton and Stefan johansen need to be at their best tonight, and hopefully Stuart Armstrong will return opposite James Forrest on the flanks.<\/p>\n

Then the mobility of these two, and that of Leigh Griffiths could upset Fenerbahce’s defence, with the physicality of the midfield runners adding to the discomfort of the Turks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Or we could just stick Ciftci up front and hope for the best.<\/p>\n

Any win would be a fantastic result, and set Celtic up nicely to progress from the group. A draw isn’t good, and would cancel out the effort in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n

\u00a0We’ll not think about a defeat.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, this winter’s panto, yet another episode in the troubled history of new club Second Rangers gets underway as Charles Green’s court case begins.<\/p>\n

Which means a spot of bother for the club he bought, saved or whatever else you believe..<\/p>\n

JohnJames , who seems to know his stuff, gave us a taste of the fun to come…<\/p>\n

There has been no end of speculation, on social media, in regard to Green\u2019s charges. I have consistently pointed out in three previous blogs, that Rangers\/RIFC will be liable for the costs of Green\u2019s defence. Rangers will not be able to hedge their costs with an insurer. No insurance policy will indemnify against criminal charges. The writ has been served, RIFC have responded in writing to the clerks at The Court of Session that they will respond to\u00a0Green\u2019s petition, and in these circumstances I would anticipate no more than a one-day hearing, with a decision on the same day. This hearing will be listed some time next week or the following week (5-9 October or 12-15 October) prior to the preliminary hearing at Glasgow High\u00a0Court on October 16.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The QC that RIFC will instruct will make the case that Green engaged in an elaborate criminal\u00a0enterprise, and that the costs of his defence are an annex of\u00a0this enterprise. This defence will not be compelling. Green\u2019s defence will almost certainly be on Rangers\u2019 dollar.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

He went on to add, after listing the costs of senior consel and so on, that…<\/p>\n

For those who believe my costs are excessive, I would advise that they don\u2019t include any expert or other witnesses\u00a0that may be called by Green\u2019s team. The charges extend to 20 pages of narrative. Whyte\u2019s defence runs to 100,000 pages of narrative. There could be in excess of 250 witnesses, Each defendant will be cross examined by QC acting for the other 5 defendants. The Police Scotland case runs to 1,000 prima facie documents. The proceedings are likely to be the most high-profile criminal trial held in Scotland in recent years. My upper estimate of seven years may be ambitious.<\/em><\/p>\n

Green\/Sevco Scotland\u00a0is\u00a0accused of conducting a fraudulent initial pubic offering by which \u00a322m was raised. Green\/Sevco Scotland\u00a0is further\u00a0accused of fraudulently obtaining assets, from the IPO, and from administrators Duff & Phelps,\u00a0to his\/Sevco Scotland\u2019s pecuniary advantage of many millions of pounds. He\/Sevco Scotland is charged with acquiring equity capital in RIFC by fraudulent means. He is also\u00a0charged with engaging in a conspiracy to commit fraudulent acts and transgressions relating to the Companies Act of 2006. Issuing a prospectus, listing assets that were obtained by fraudulent means, is an offence.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Big hands indeed.<\/p>\n

He’ll need them to scoop up all that money. Which is probably what he intended to do all along.<\/p>\n

Now , a different kind of hero.<\/p>\n

A real one, in fact.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/p>\n

The Celtic wiki gives the full story behind yesterdays picture;<\/p>\n

The Honour of the Faberge Egg<\/h3>\n

A Faberg\u00e9 egg is a jeweled egg made by the House of Faberg\u00e9 from 1885 to 1917. Most were miniature eggs that were popular gifts at Easter, and were very expensive and ornate products passed between Royalty, in particular in the old Russia prior to the Bolshevik Revolution).\u00a0<\/span><\/em>

In 2005, family descendant Sarah Faberge created a limited number of new eggs in aid of former Celtic football player Jimmy Johnstone, who was suffering from motor neurone disease.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“I am not a big football fan, but wanted to do something to help. He was inspirational as a footballer and now he is inspiring people as he battles his illness. People admire him for different reasons now.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


Jinky was immortalised in 19 eggs priced at \u00a310,000 each, with Jinky getting the proceeds of the sales . All the eggs were snapped up.<\/span><\/em>

The Jimmy Johnstone eggs are made from silver, enamel, yellow and black gold and feature the medals of the footballer’s major achievements, the UEFA European Cup, the Scottish league championship, the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. Permission was given by the organisers of these competitions to strike the new medals from the original dies. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

There’s a lot more on the page, including press cuttings and more pictures.<\/p>\n

It’s here ;<\/p>\n

Johnstone Faberge Egg<\/a><\/p>\n

Today’s opponents are noted for their passion.<\/p>\n

They got upset when this happened.<\/p>\n

Can anyone remember the details ?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With so many crucial games already this season, each champion’s League qualifier having taken on the title of a “season definer “, it’s no surprise…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/out-of-touch.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-22u","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7846,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7842\/revisions\/7846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}