We’re hoping for more Celtic fans to get involved in writing blogs and articles over the summer and next season onwards.

You DON’T NEED TO HAVE EXPERIENCE we have videos and support which will help you get started you might just want to put out your thoughts out once or twice a year or on a more regular basis.,it’s up to you.

The Celtic Network is here to give all Celtic fans a voice on line. There is minimum editorial control we would only interfere if an article was malicious, racist or sectarian which we don’t expect from the Celtic support.

This is the perfect opportunity for anyone who would like to blog but does not have the time or the know how to run their own blog.

If you are interested just send us your details via our contact form

Cheers

James

The argument will continue for a long time regarding the dilemma between morals & finance in Scottish football.

Morally, I personally do not think there is a question to answer, clubs who cheat for gain should be kicked out and made to start again and Rangers are just lucky that we do not operate a pyramid system in Scottish football, otherwise it wouldn’t be the 4th tier they’d face next season.

Financially, I question exactly what would be the difference between allowing a Rangers NewCo into the SPL or not.

For years, bloggers like Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, RangersTaxCase amongst others have been advising of the possible outcomes in this whole farce of a situation but time & time again have we witnessed all shot down in flames, which continues to this day even though they’ve all had far better success than the succulent lamb media.

So why has it been so difficult for the laptop loyal in Scotland to accept the demise of Rangers FC?

I was very surprised to listen to Clyde 1′s Superscoreboard this week and listen to Graham Speirs openly admit that the death of Rangers would mean a death of sorts in his own position. Surprised I was as after all this time, years gone by since Phil started to release HIS exclusives, a hack had finally succumbed to this conclusion.

It’s no secret that revenue figures have dropped for all Scottish media in recent years & this is the primary reason why hacks such as Speirs, Keevins, Guidi, King, Traynor, Young, English & many more do not want to see the death of RFC.

Think about it this way, An RFC NewCo is forced to start somewhere in the Scottish Football League, make no mistake, no mistake at all, supporters of Rangers WILL WALK AWAY.

When they walk, any interest in the media such as newspapers, radio phone-ins etc will also die & your everyday hack such as Traynor, Keevins & Co will suffer the consequences of this.

This is the main reason why we are shot down in flames when we question why the need to scrap morals in football to seek the financial rewards of a possible RFC NewCo.

It’s not just to benefit of Scottish football, it’s the benefit of your typical Scottish media hack.

Final note – I’ve asked many a hack on twitter for weeks now to answer the question below, I’d love it, absolutely LOVE IT if the below question is asked time & time again as I’ve yet to receive a response from anyone to date.

Simply, “Would the death of Rangers hit figures in Scottish newspaper sales?”

James say’s hi and thanks you for all your support

He asked me to put this up (h0pe it works)

Hibernian had the worst disciplinary record in the 2011/12 Scottish Premier League, with Celtic taking the prize of being the best behaved club in the division.

Our season-long look at the discipline of the SPL’s clubs and players has reached its conclusion and charts the total crime count for the campaign.

Having accumulated 80 yellow cards, 12 more than any other side, Hibs scrapped their way to top flight safety, finishing ahead of Rangers by four points.

Our club count throughout the season awarded one point for a yellow card and two for a red, with Celtic finishing a total 44 points behind the Edinburgh club in a season of good behaviour.

On the player front, St Mirren’s Jim Goodwin pipped Richie Foran at the post to be the worst behaved of the campaign, picking up 13 yellow cards. It’s no surprise that both will miss the first day of next season through suspension.

Mrs Cameron

One thing that’s been consistent since Rangers went into administration is the need to push the view that Scottish football needs Rangers in the Scottish Premier League otherwise it’ll be forever ruined due to lack of television revenue.

It’s the “Rangers need Celtic, Celtic need Rangers” quote on Radio Clyde each weeknight added with Hugh Keevins constant whingeing that a Premier League without Rangers would be disastrous for the rest of Scottish football that makes me question, Exactly what does television bring to our national game?

BSkyB & ESPN verbally agreed on a new £80 million deal to cover SPL games over the next 4 season, a deal which if it was left to the hacks, this is on the basis of 4 games between Celtic & Rangers. Since that was challenged its been changed to both teams being involved in the league.

Has anybody really challenged the main detail of this deal, has anyone actually been able to publish exactly what’s at stake should RFC be demoted to the lower leagues?

Without any factual information, we’re left with Keevins & Co.

Personally, I’d prefer to look at other alternatives, look into other avenues to seek revenue.

Let’s say for example the SPL allow an RFC NewCo into the league, as detailed by http://www.splsurvey.co.uk its clear that a large section of Scottish football fans are not only against any RFC NewCo but willing to walk away from Scottish football altogether in protest.

Take into consideration that the 16,527 responses, this was an online survey and won’t take into consideration views of those fans who do not access the internet and also those fans of SFL teams.

So considering that a large section of fans are prepared to walk away, what are the financial implications this will bring on SPL football?

Walking away doesn’t just mean from the stadium gates, walking away from merchandise sales, walking away from introducing kids to football but also walking away from television subscriptions which is the prime reason BSkyB & ESPN have agreed to these contracts.

So it may not be as visible next season, maybe not the season after but considering the outrage a RFC NewCo will cause, the implications it’ll cause down the line may just be far greater.

I’ve just come back from a week abroad & I had the pleasure of experiencing Premier League TV.

The English Premier League you see has signed a deal with IMG Media. Premier League licensees outside the UK are offered the chance to run the service as full channel or pick and choose among from an offering that includes regular news shows, magazine programming and archive matches, this including matches from the previous weekend.

Consider our own C67, the subscription numbers our own club generates is a vital cog in seeking television revenues elsewhere.

How many Scottish football supporters would gladly give up the Pro English media for a service which is focussed solely on our own game, a game which will be produced by a media organisation focussed on whats best for the game.

IMG Media produce EPLTV with a view of building up its product, knowing fine well that when the EPL gains, IMG gains.

The product we get from Sky, ESPN, BBCScotland is one where we have analysts, commentators looking for a reason to dish dirt, for example, what media outlet outside our game will you hear the presenter tell you the outcome before it’s even shown?

There had been talks in the past with IMG Media about the SPL producing its own TV channel almost 10 years ago, why not now?

One last point towards the media pushing this television slant, have they all forgotten about current Television deals with Fox Sports (USA) and Ten Sports (India)

Firstly before I go onto my main point I would like to thank Jas for providing myself the opportunity to express my opinions on TCN.

Knowing Jas via twitter and having visited TCN on many occasions I think the platform the TCN provides the online Celtic community is a worthy project and one which should be welcomed by all.

As we know, tomorrow (Wed 16th May 2012) opens the Rangers’ appeal against sanctions imposed by the SFA. No-one knows how long this appeals process will take but we do know that after pressure from several RFC employees and also members of the laptop loyal the names of the 3 panel members have been publicly released after police consultation (A process which would ensure panel members remained anonymous)

So what can we expect?

I like many others are sceptical about the whole appeals process (I’m paranoid remember) I feel that with the pressures applied after the initial hearing, the naming of the panel members, I feel it should be expected that the original sanctions will be reduced in some way.

Please also consider that normally within football governance, after appeal, it’s quite common for original sanctions to be reduced and Rangers FC have benefited from such a process in they’re dealings with UEFA in past years.

With these points, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the following:

Fines handed down to Rangers FC will either be reduced or suspended during a space of time.

The 12 month transfer embargo will either be again reduced or will include additions that any remaining embargo will be lifted once all football debts are cleared.

It’s with this transfer embargo that most concern & grievance has been raised by RFC and this is something I personally cannot quite understand.

The reason for my difficulty in understanding is that taking away possible free transfers, this embargo wouldn’t be for 12 month’s but for the summer transfer window (which may not be relevant should RFC remain in administration) and the 1 month winter transfer window in January.

So hypothetically speaking, should RFC somehow come out of administration, they will in effect only suffer a 4 month embargo taking the 3 summer window months & 1 winter window month. Hardly “draconian” as has been mentioned by the media.

With the press release this morning that should there be no transfer embargo, that the “preferred bidders” of Charles GREEN & consortium would plough millions into RFC, what will this mean then for any possible CVA being agreed by HMRC, Ticketus & other creditors?

That #CelticFamily is something we should consider after this current process has been finalised.

What are your feelings on this process?

From the original sanctions to the release of the panel members identity to then the further release of the SFA notes of the reasons behind the decisions?

What are your feelings and what do you believe will happen once this appeals process has been completed?

A you all know I’m going through  we depression at the moment so I have realised that I really need to take a few weeks off from TCN.

I would be really gratefull if people could keep the place ticking over with a few blogs per week. All partners do have logins if you are going to write some thing and have forgot your login details I don’t mind you emailing me and I’ll sort it out. Other than that I need time off.

All the best

James

not a  lot of football action in them but plenty of celebrations.

Is it just me (maybe because I’m of a certain age 47) that is getting pissed off with all the razzmatazz surrounding the presentation of the Trophy yesterday? The delay between the end of the game and the presentation was a joke. All this building a stage mainly to show off the sponsors name which in this case was a a bank. A bank along with other banks that are probably responsible for chucking people on the dole. Players being brought out one by one  and we still need to wait for the Captain to come out and get his mefal before the Cup is lifted.

Now this is not common to the SPL or the SFA it’s happening in every major competition on the planet and frankly I’m fed up with it.Even my nephew who is 15 was totally fed up waiting to see Broony lifting the cup.

I don’t know about you but I prefered the days when A guy came out with  table stuck the trophy on it and the captain went up, hoisted it in the air gave the guys their medals and the players were off around the park celebrating with the supporters. That’s all we really want that instant reaction not a feckin pantomime.

The other thing that I’m fed up with is reporters who don’t have a kind word to say about our club or players hijacking them on the pitch.

I’m sure the players would rather be with their team mates parading the trophy and celebrating around the park with the fans. Surely there is enough time to talk to the players once they get back up the tunnel.

So in the words of the great Peter Griffen ‘That’s what really grinds my gears’

So what do you think. Am I just an auld codger getting pissed off with the modern way of doing things or do you agree there is far too much razzmatazz surrounding these presentations.

I know for a fack the 15 yr old me would have said ‘ffs goany just gie us the cup’?

PS. I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT THE FECKIN OPERA SINGER AS WELL !!

You can argue if you want but I feel Hearts played the same game they played against us in the Semi final but their was one main difference . Today we took our chances.

Anyway what an emotional day, from 75 mins on I watched the clock just waiting for that fial whistle of the season so we could at last pick up our trophy, I’m an auld sentimental b*stard but in the dying minute when the crowd sang ‘we’ve won the league again ‘ I was literally in tears. I’ve never been like that on a trophy day but something today just hit me. I don’t know if it was because I knew it would be the last Celtic game I’d be to as a supporters for a while or it was just the sheer joy that Neil Lennon and his young team were finaly getting what they deserved.

As far as I’m concerned we have been the best team in the country for the past 2 seasons. Ok sometimes we were a bit naive but one thing we were never been are bottlers. It also maybe a good time as well to point out we were not cheats and never relied on ‘poor’ referees for decisions in big games.

I’ll miss going to the games next year but I know in my heart that when Neil Lennon said ’this is only the beginning’ he was telling the truth.

This team has the basics required to do well at home and and in Europe.

Another point you might want to argue with is that today Hooper proved he does not need Stokes up front with him to be a top striker.

Hail,Hail to the Champions.

Seems ages ago JVH blasted a header into the Dundee Utd net to clinch 3 in a row. Never thought that night it would be another few years before we won the SPL again.

All that’s in the past, today will see Broony lift the cup but the best bit will be when Lenny gets his hands on it. By God he has deserved it after all the shite him and his family have been put through.

Today will be tinged with sadness for me as for the first time in 25yrs I won’t be able to renew my season ticket but I’m sure I’ll get to a few games. just as well Rangers will be in the 3rd division or it would be worse missing the Glasgow Derbies.

It’s been a great first season for TCN and a really good one for Celtic. I’ve started writing an e-book based on a month to month diary of Celtic games and TCN blogs. I’ve decided to make it an e-book only because it will be full of  hyperlinks to blogs, match reports and game pictures.

Hopefully it will be ready by July with a percentage of profits going to our 3 main charities.

Today is party day so everyone enjoy themselves.

If your bored during the close season we have opened a new area World Football Feeds we are also planing EURO 2012 blogs and quizzes.  Nothing worse than spending the summer reading dodgy transfer ‘exclusives’ from people who don’t know any more than you or I. Don’t get me wrong they can be fun but some people take them to serious. Remember if Celtic are going to sign anyone they will tell you on the day the player signs lol

Remember if you ave any charities you want people to be aware of  just contact us and we’ll hell support you and raise awareness.

We hope you have enjoyed The Celtic Networks first season.

Hail, Hail

James