It was Abraham Lincoln who said “He has a right to criticise who has a heart to help.”
Aristotle is reputed to have once said that “Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
Ralph Wando Emerson said “Whatever you do, you need courage and whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong.”
And Mark Twain said, “If you have no will to change it you have no right to criticise it.”
I agree with all of them. All my life, I’ve seen people who wanted to make changes sniped at from the side-lines by pitiful cowards who never had the guts to take anything on themselves. The world is full of issues to protest on. I am with the protesters.
Each of us has a duty, I think, to try to make better the world in which they live, even in a little way, even in a way that might not rock the wider universe but which echoes through their corner of society. We can’t all shoot for revolutionary changes, but we should all try to make things a little bit better for our fellow human beings, a little bit fairer, a little more just.
For some of us, that has meant working around issues to do with Celtic. There are people who have made this club the central hub of their lives, and their charitable work and work for the betterment of others has some connection to this club.
The Green Brigade and their foodbanks. The Kano Foundation and those kids. The Celtic Charities Fund. The Walfrid Wells. The Thai Tims. Others campaigned for the Living Wage for our workers. For women’s sanitary products to be free in the bathrooms. There are the homeless sleep-overs at Celtic Park and many other things like it.
I could go on and on and on but you get the drift.
Others, without even realising they were doing it, helped to establish us as one of the best away supports in Europe, by making friends, by acting responsibly, by behaving as ambassadors for Celtic everywhere they went.
Others worked hard to build that reputation, self-policing their own little corner of Celtic Park and the away day experience.
We honour all of these people. We respect all of those people. We would never dream of attacking or demeaning them or playing down their contribution to society and to the good name of Celtic as a whole. Nor should we. Their efforts are only to be commended.
Why is it, then, that others get no respect whatsoever from some amongst our number? Does the fair running, and good governance, of the game not matter to them?
You know, I have no problem with that, if that’s their thinking.
Those who want to push the Survival Lie, those who don’t think the “Sevco” debate is worth having, those who can’t bring themselves to care how our rivals are financed or whether the refs are bent or the SFA is fair minded and transparent … you are perfectly entitled to hold those views.
Be happy to operate in an environment toxified by lies and by corruption, and pretend to yourself that you are watching a clean game. If that helps you sleep at night or lets you worm your way into the outer limits of the “mainstream” media where the pollution level is critical, or a step closer to regular tea and biscuits around the board’s table, pretending to be a voice of the fans instead of a stooge for the directors, hey, grab what you can from the rubble.
But some folk do care. Some folk are committed to seeing Scottish football governance change, and they don’t want thanks, and if even your respect is too much to ask then so be it; if you want to live in shit, that’s up to you.
Where some people get pissed off – where I’m increasingly becoming very pissed off indeed – is when some folks, like Auldheid, get stick because they are willing to work a shovel and have put in the hard hours trying to clean up the mess.
Resolution 12 is not some fringe concern, and it’s not about Whatabouttery and it’s not about scoring points against Ibrox.
Anyone who thinks that it is any of those things hasn’t been paying attention, and I don’t even mind that people don’t pay attention; it’s them trying to pass themselves off as knowledgeable and informed when they’ve made a virtue out of being neither that I dislike.
I don’t mind that people are content to be ignorant, but I do mind when those same folk think they have the right to pontificate on a subject that they very clearly and obviously known nothing about.
If you don’t understand what the objective was, and is, you ought not to be calling it a waste of time.
If you are embarrassed by the focus on it, I’d suggest that you might have spent too long at the back of the bus and gotten so used to being pissed on that you’ll go along with the fiction that it’s rain.
Resolution 12 targets the SFA. It always has.
It is not some obsession by a handful of sad-cases. Serious people have put serious time and effort and even their own money into getting to the bottom of this. It is about the open and honest – with the emphasis on honest – application of the rules.
It is about how Scottish football is run, and if you are a Celtic fan who doesn’t care about that you have no right to bring up bent refs or EBT’s ever again.
These guys are heroes. These guys took on the job the club didn’t want to – indeed, the club told them that if they wanted to look into it that they should bring whatever evidence they found back, and then when those guys did that they ignored it completely.
These are the handful of guys who are still fighting a massively important battle, long after others have walked out of the combat zone and they don’t mind marching into the guns of the enemy … but they are increasingly worrying about being shot in the back, by those who are supposed to be their friends, and I don’t think that’s right or fair and I’m angry about it.
I know what these guys put into this and what some of them are still putting into it and I know they are doing it for us. They are doing it for the good of our club and for the good of the game. They deserve the highest praise, not sniping from the gutters.
Agree 100%.
Every time I see a Celtic “fan” criticise the res12 boys or saying “they’re the same Rangers” I just think….hun.
No true Tim should be willing to put up with this nonsense, some folk need to have a serious think to themselves…
Reads like an Uber fan site. There are fans ( I’m one of them) who as shareholders who have approached the club in this respect. Saying that some fans haven’t a clue is quite a statement to make. I would never assume that is the case just because a tweet or a reply message may not be clear. I now remember why I stopped reading this bloggers post , Uber as I say.
What point are you trying to make Pedro?
Do you agree with Auldheid and the requisitioners?
The problem some fans have regarding res12 it has been going on 9 years and we get nowhere because our corrupt board who helped to write it up by the way liewell”grubby hands all over it thats why we have no end game and fans just @issed of with all the bull$hit from our corrupt board along with the spl sfa all who are a bunch of corrupt @unts Thats why i stopped being a supporter of celtic just a fan now have stopped spending my money on celtic after over 60 years and thats sad all down to those who run celtic.
Most fans don’t understand Res 12.
They simply want to go to the game but they are the first to complain about conspiracies here, there, and everywhere.
Res 12 maybe a conspiracy but, even if it isn’t, it is corruption at the highest level of our sport.
It should concern every supporter in the land: every club that wishes to grow and that has ambition should be aware that there is a governing body dedicated to preventing that.
The best article yet. I’m appalled by some of my fellow Celtic supporters when they shrug their shoulders and tell me that “it’s all ancient history”. This is THE biggest scandal ever to hit the game in the UK. Celtic WERE cheated and if some people, increasing numbers of people, don’t care about that then the game is over.
And because they were cheated, as was the whole game, but Celtic, The Club were the major victim, because the club at Ibrox, the corrupt MIBs, the SFA, the SPFL ( Reagan & Doncaster) and most tragically our own Board, cheated the Scottish Game and Supporters of all Clubs and got away with it and the cheating still goes on today.
Our fans were cheated with the connivance and collusion of our OWN BOARD. The custodians of the Club that we all profess to love has been made complicit to corruption. Any supporter out there who feels that we should move on and forget it are obviously not paying attention. We are still being shafted week after week. Last Seasons Title? This Season Champions league pot of gold. The exact same scenario as the old Rangers going belly up chasing the pot of gold to stay solvent. The same movie is playing out again and the audience is sleeping in the back rows.
That’s how important it is. If The Rangers screw it up again it could FINISH the game in Scotland.
Look at my username. Some say it’s a mildly clever play on words, perhaps, but the meaning is clear. The people who run our game are corrupt. They do not apply the laws of the game fairly for the benefit of all clubs.
If that doesn’t disgust you then you have no right to criticise those who care enough to try to rectify it and to repair the tarnished name of our club. For that is what our Board have done. They have traded the good name that the Support have nourished over generations. All our good deeds and charitable acts have been tainted forever by the company our Board have chosen to climb into bed with. All for the sake of a marketing Brand. The ability to milk their own supporters to satisfy shareholders.
Is there a fund i can contribute towards for this James ?
Very well written James.
I’ve stated before I believe celtic board are part of the five way agreement and I swore as soon as sevco entered the same league as celtic I would check out.
I can’t pay Into a league that’s based on lies.
Board full of Tory voting old firm fans.
Test
The Res 12 guys deserve the respect of every single Scottish FOOTBALL supporter
They certainly have mine
Any true FOOTBALL supporter should want , in fact demand an honest game were the rules apply fairly to all clubs and teams .
We do not have that in Scotland IMO
The fact that these guys went out and gathered the evidence of wrongdoing, only for it to b ignored is a scandal in itself . The way they have gone about refusing to deal with the whole filthy saga is to the eternal shame of the people running our club .
I wish nothing but the best to the Res 12 guys in the quest for the truth and will raise a glass and toast the all ,if I’m here to see the day justice is done
As for the ones sniping about dropping it .
Do they think Jim Farry wasnt guilty of wrongdoing
The truth of the matter is our support is no more the great support it once was.. the great fans are still there in 50% of the seats.. but the other 50 have been infiltrated by moaning spoiled glory hunters who put the boot in unless we win every game.. like the gimp on the radio tonight calling our greek striker a donkey.. quadruple treble glory hunters and they can all f*ck off.. would rather have 30 thousand real fans in a half empty ground
Spot on here ,auldheid is 100% correct in this regard ,the cheating and skulduggery that goes on in Scottish football is disgusting ,the sooner this is brought out into the open again the better.
100% agree and it’s about the PLC being held accountable for being complicit in the 5 Way Agreement and ‘misleading’ (sic) shareholders. Basically treating us with contempt.
Totally agree.
Each and Every Bhoy and Ghirl Should be Right Behind the Res 12.If Nothing’s done.What is the purpose of Following a Club that sits Idky By knowing Exactly what’s gone on and most certainly still is,Corruption Breeds Corruption.Each and Every supporter of every Club is being Mugged on a Daily Basis.As for Same Club LoL ???.Any sane person knows the Truth.Our Board isn’t fit for purpose.As long as the coins rolling in,They couldn’t care less
A wonderful assessment and summary of the situation James and one that deserves the backing of Celtic supporters everywhere.
The Celtic board and the SFA have colluded for the sake of one corrupted football club and this must never be allowed to be forgotten. It must be pursued relentlessly and those who seek to oppose or denigrate that work shouldn’t be anywhere near a position of power or influence.
Keep up the good work it is not going unrecognised.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with Aulheid and all his tireless work around Res 12.
We, the support, should have a banner praising them on show every home game. I have no doubt that in time the Res 12 guys will highlight the backroom behaviours by the scottish football authorities and the underhand support of one certain club.
Resolution 12 is absolutely vital in the quest to clean up the SFA. Extremely disappointed the Board are not at the forefront.
Nohing new. Its only last season when those who called it for what was were called bedwetters, panickers , entitled, spoiled etc. Refered to as some sort of new breed of fan and dismissed as cranks …all by other Celtic fans..snobs , arrogant, head on the sand deniers of what was staring us straight in the face .
Thank God for The Celtic Blog !
Truthful and refreshingly scathing in calling out the skulduggery and downright dishonesty that seeps through Scotland football like the cancer it is, and aided and abetted by the ‘custodians’ of the game (SFA & SPFL) and the worst media in the western world to the detriment of the other 41 member clubs and to the advantage of Sevco (who as I type this are aged 9 years and 99 days old).
The resources 12 team have been awesome in their evidence gathering and I’m behind them ONE THOUSAND per cent every step of the way.
It’s too late for me and after 25 years of trekking to see my beloved Hoops in all wethers, I reluctantly chuckled it all in after Doncaster said that Sevco were the same club ‘absolutely’ as my pride and stubbornness against cheating would not let me put in one more thin dime towards a bent League and sporting sham of a competition.
Yep, I still buy plenty merchandise but if I don’t get satisfaction from the up and coming AGM then the Celtic board and their names will find themselves displayed on personally printed T – Shirts and banded along with the SFA and SPFL as corrupt hardly an honour but I suppose they will see it as one being in with Maxwell and Doncaster et all..
Our board are both shameless and shameful – they have lost me and deprived me of a generation of love to The Hoops.
Hail Hail to all at Resoloution 12 now and always !
The Celtic board were complicit in keeping the manky mob alive,and as a result this incarnation of hundom is a much worse beast than ever was before