Super_Ally

That's an incredibly encouraging post Tannoch.

That's pretty shocking 26th. In another thread on here myself and Craig both had the same opinion at least. Cheating is cheating and to try and classify levels of cheating is a nonsense. He tried to con the ref, got caught and paid the price. The scottish media sweeping brush out in force again. And Celtic's lack of integrity is not entirely unsurprising.

I didn't think much to it either. Neill as back up for defence if his wages were realistic. Which they wont be. Not sure how Van der Meyde is playing these days.

Last Wednesday we saw Eduardo throwing himself to the floor under minimal contact from Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc to win his side a penalty in a convincing 5-1 aggregate defeat condemning Celtic to participation in the “Thursday Cup”. Despite the fact that the penalty had little bearing on the final result, Celtic were a very definite second best, the Arsenal forward was rightly condemned for his actions. Diving, simulation, cheating, whatever you want to call it, is a distasteful part of the game that we would all like to see removed. As the current chief executive of the SFA, Gordon Smith has spearheaded an admirable campaign to eradicate this form of cheating from our national game. In addition to the complaints of our media and Celtic, Smith added his weight to the calls for Eduardo to be dealt with by UEFA. The vociferous complaints emanating from Parkhead and within the Scottish press offices have shone a spotlight on diving and attempts to deceive the referee this season. In reading a copy of the Times this weekend included with every match report of games in the EPL was a small column entitled “Diving Watch”. Any such instances of cheating will come under severe scrutiny this season. As the club that have largely brought this issue to the fore, you would expect Celtic to ensure their employees could not bring the game into disrepute or be accused of hypocrisy. It was somewhat ironic then that both Aiden McGeady and Chris Killen were both involved in diving controversy in their very next competitive fixture. McGeady saw red for throwing himself to the floor under no contact from a Hibernian defender whilst Killen avoided punishment for simulation in the same match. Last Sunday’s game proved the perfect opportunity for Celtic, Gordon Smith and the SFA to show their commitment to eradicating diving from Scottish football. Unfortunately they all failed to act with any integrity. Tony Mowbray claimed he was tired having run 40 yards. What that has to do with taking a dive someone else will have to explain to me? Surely he should be looking to move the ball onto a team mate, not trying to deceive the referee and have an opponent sent off because he’s a little fatigued. In complete contrast to the way Walter Smith dealt with the Lafferty incident, Celtic have again shown they are not able to live up to the standards set by Scotland's premier club. Gordon Smith was apparently prevented from speaking out for fear of prejudicing a case. He did however speak out on the Lafferty incident at the end of last season to praise Walter Smith for the way he handled the issue. It appears then, a statement condemning Celtic for hiding from the issue would have been fair. Apparently he was free to speak out against Eduardo because the incident occurred in a match where disciplinary issues are not decided by the SFA and hence there was no issue with prejudicing a case. However, in further discussion with Mr Smith he admitted that as the referee dealt with the issue there and then, there is no case to answer. So there is nothing to prejudice. Smith’s refusal to comment on diving by Celtic players less than a week after chastising Arsenal for the same offence reeks of a lack of integrity and yet again a refusal for anyone within Scottish football to tackle Celtic football club. He is hiding behind legislation and supposed laws that do not in fact prevent him from speaking. Much like on the radio phone-ins, in the printed press and unfortunately now in the corridors of power at Hampden, we are happy to discuss any issues blighting Scottish football unless it is Celtic who are under the microscope. Press bias in favour of Celtic has long been cited with the BBC and certain newspapers and radio stations being identified as the worst offenders. The fact that those who rule upon Scottish football are now similarly scared to speak out and challenge Celtic is a worrying occurrence.

It's not EPL, La Liga or anything else. It's Man U, Real and that's about it. Maybe the rest of England's big 4 and Barca. At a push maybe even Juve and AC. What of Bayern Munichs global branding? Or Porto or Ajax? Is chasing the foreign markets realistically and financially viable and worthwhile?

I had assumed that was you reason for asking who was in attendance and hopefully Frankie or another will be able to confirm that all or at least most the groups mentioned were in attendance as, as you say, it would be a positive sign for any potential success of the project.

In their accounts you can find total wages and bonuses paid but not what individuals are paid. I'm not sure that would be possible. Unless i'm missing your point. Finances are not my strong point.

Good to see that another site is taking an active interest then. Sure Frankie or one of the other attendees will be along to confirm who else was in attendance.

Is there? Any proof? Or just an opinion? How much have Celtic made? I've heard there's no evidence in increased revenue on their balance sheets (or whatever the right financial terms are) between before Nakamura and while he was there.

Would be good to see a somewhat objective analysis there.

Can't compete in Europe as it is!

Thanks for answering my points Frankie. Gives me a clearer idea of what's going on. Though being able to attend any meetings would facilitate that more easily. I think the real questions we as a fanbase have about STS will be answered when we transfer from the RSA focused debates to actually getting the club involved with the points they decide to take further. On first reading I noticed the comment about scouting and meant to ask about that so glad Big Spliff did. Would certainly be interesting to hear more about that.

Seems to make logical sense. Here's hoping we live up to our part of the bargain then. It's funny you mentioning that you wouldn't take (m)any of their players over ours. I was going to start a topic saying that I and no doubt most of us would not take their players over ours but I bet they would say the same, co who is correct? Obviously footballing success and the finances have a cyclical relationship. One improves the other, or not as the case may be. We need to keep winning to sort out our finances and hopefully damage them on and off the field at the same time.

Few points: 1) Are you able to give any specifics of the Q&A session? 2) Who was in attendance? RSA reps, STS contributors. Anyone else? 3) "The assembly are in broad agreement". Are there any specific issues they do not agree with from STS or they do not feel are realistic to tackle? 4) Is there a timetable for future debate. 5) I understand from the final paragraph or two more than STS and RSA reps will be attending these debates?

I know people get pissed off at the "short-sighted" thinking of only looking to be ahead of Celtic. However, with the fact that we only really compete with Celtic and our success and finances are intrinsically linked to theirs (only one of us can win the league, only one of us gets automatic CL qualification and the money it brings) you have to consider things in terms of us against them. Here's to 2, 3 and 4iar.

That's precisely what I was getting at. We hear all these silly valuations and this mythical bids yet I'm not sure I believe any of them have been subject of a real multi-million pound bid like we have received for quality performers over recent years.

Cheers guys. I do vaguely remember you explaining this stuff before Craig, but had kind of forgotten it tbh. Post was very helpful though. Just couldn't believe anyone was arguing their finances were as bad as ours when all the evidence (as you point out) is to the contrary. I was under the impression though that come next summer thanks to our cost cuttting and CL money versus their expenditure and lack of CL money there would be little between us. Assuming we were to win the league and gain CL football again at their expense we would be on a par or a little ahead financially. Are we actually further behind than I realise and it will take a couple more succesful seasons to redress the balance?

He was without a club. A paycut of 3k a week would mean he was paying us 3 grand to play surely. I seem to remember it being a �£3k/week contract but am willing to be proved wrong.

Aye, suspended.

Calling BD and Craig. They have much less debt than us currently. Though come next years accounts, factoring in our cost cutting and CL money there will be much less in it. So how does what this guy says fit in? Who's in better shape in reality. Surely it's them atm?

Sticking with the Boyd theme, surely one of the first things we will do, well between now and January is get his contract sorted? Not tying him down to a contract could actually end up costing us money. Could leave on a free in the summer or signing a pre-contract in Jan. There are no realistice circumstances under which not giving Boyd an extension makes any kind of success.

Ah, Jerome. Didn't expect you to be joining a fans forum. Welcome to the club. :fish:

Brown at �£11mil. What was Boruc? �£10-15mil. McGeady about �£8mil or so. Who are they kidding? They talk of these bids but lets cut the crap, if they were ever offered anything near that sort of money the players would be gone. They have a dividend to shareholders to satisfy. Their wage bill seems to increase every year, yet they have no CL money. Rangers have seen Boumsong, Cuellar and Hutton all leave for around �£8-9mil. It's phenomenal money for SPL transfers. And they expect us to believe they are receiving bids in excess of �£10 mil, but the players aren't moving. Clearly no one out with the paedo dome rates their players.

I assume this post is dripping with sarcasm.

PSG fan on the new boy: