This morning Hugh Keevins wrote one of his typically ignorant and stupid pieces, this time on how Celtic (and the lot across town) can satisfy their fans during the transfer window.
His first question – could we afford to do satisfactory business with the virus uncertainty swirling around? – was answered before he even started writing it.
So what, may you ask, was his point?
Honestly, I have no idea except for the vague suggestion that we might have a financial crisis to look forward to.
“Financial ruination” the headline screams.
We’re facing financial ruination? Really? Eah?
On what planet does this idiot live at times?
Celtic is not facing any such thing. We signed 12 players in the summer whilst staying on the right side of the numbers.
There was, and there is, plenty in the budget for more.
Our losses last season were minimal when viewed over the five or ten-year stretch, and whilst we’re not Manchester City, sitting here with sugar-daddy owners, we’re not scrambling down the back of the sofa looking for spare change either.
Our first three signings are done.
There are more being contemplated.
That will bring the total of players signed under this manager to 15. Celtic fans get that the club operates under constraints. We also get that an extended closure of stadiums will hurt.
But it will hurt a certain other club a lot more, and they live in cloud cuckoo land when it comes to the valuations of their players. A lay-off lasting more than a month will put them in serious peril, the kind that clubs and businesses don’t come out of.
And whilst he is banging on about the Celtic fans “demanding” deals for Carter Vickers and Jota done, the vast majority of us know two things; both players need to want to be here and if they do the deals don’t need to be done right now.
He even bangs on about his paper’s discredited transfer fee for the Englishman, repeating the claim that he will cost us “up to £10 million”, which this blog scorned at the time and which informed sources in England have completed rejected.
Let me repeat something this clown and others in the media all too often seem to want to ignore; we have the first option on both of them.
If those guys are up for it, if they are willing to commit to long term deals then that’s how it’ll be.
The club will not allow either of them to get away, not when both are investments as well as great footballers.
The one area where he gets it right is when he talks, briefly, about Ibrox.
He writes as if he’s the guy who first discovered fire, but let’s be blunt, even the dumbest kid in the classroom can spot that any period where they can’t have fans in grounds will be appalling for them.
They were counting, for example, on a full house with premium priced tickets against Dortmund, and their “150 Anniversary” party was going to be a money spinner.
That’s due to take place in March … who even knows where we might be by then.
It’s amazing that Keevins has stumbled onto the obvious fact that their club cannot continue to defy financial gravity.
It’s as if he just noticed that they’ve been a multi-million-pound loss making business for every one of the last ten years.
Some of us were way ahead of him there.
Some of us have been waiting for a serious analysis of the mess they are in.
None of us, however, was waiting for it from Hugh Keevins and he hasn’t delivered it here, just a ridiculous warning that “both” clubs are in the same ugly spot.
And as per usual he’s either failed to understand what’s in front of him or he’s doing what he has always done best; taking his best shot at Celtic.
As ever it is pitifully weak.
The strongest thing about it, in fact, is the smell.
Every week this guy predicts ( hopes ) that we’re going to lose and when we don’t his column gets just more and more bizarre
James
I usually avoid reading Keevins keech due to how badly written his output is but had as look at it today after reading your blog.
If you or any other blogger had written what he said today then you would probably have expected to be slagged for it, and rightly so.
Celtic at last accounts were 16.6 million in the black.
Sevco only survive through directors ploughing money into the black hole.
I don’t get how Keevins can then compare the two clubs.
That Keevins is picking up a wage for the crap he writes sums up Scottish MSM journalism.
The nasally and cranially challenged Spew Heavins comes out with this sensational crapola every few days in a desperate attempt to appear relevant.
I can only put it down to age related dementia and general decrepitude.
For a man who makes a living from Scottish football, he shows a huge degree of ignorance about financial realities at best, or, more likely, is pandering to the other side in order to stir controversy and maintain what he sees as relevance as a football journalist. This clown has no place as a serious contributor to Scottish football debate, and should have been put out to grass years ago from both print and radio jobs. The problem is, the standard of football journalism in Scotland is woeful. Compare Jackson, Gannon, Murray etc. to the likes of Ronay, Winter and Liew. It’s scandalous that not one of these guys has the balls, integity or professional self respect to say, “hold on, what the hell is going on with Rangers finances? Where is it coming from? Why have you appointed a bigot linked to a party linked to dodgy NI groups on to you board?” So many questions a REAL journalist would love to get their teeth into. Where’s Alex Thompson gone?
“Tony Watt , Tony Watt , Riding Thru’ The Glen….”
“Tony Watt , Tony Watt , With His Ninja Friends….”
“Feared By The H’mmms , Loved By The Good….”
“Tony Watt , Megawatt, Tony Watt……………………..”
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Get Him Signed PRONTO ……Ange !!!!
As i keep saying who gives a fuck what herr lip says, just another nonentity.HH
let’s face it like the rest of them they can’t say anything about sevco without dragging celtic in to the equation too scared to get slaughtered by the hordes
PISH STAINED AULD JAKEY SOUP TAKER!! Sent packing fae Bairds 23 yrs ago, still RAGIN LOL!
I do not think we are anywhere near financial ruin. But i do think we have a number of people on high salaries who should be moved on. Over at Ibrox I also think there are not close either because they now have some sellable assets AND a Board that back and back and back – to the tune of 25m+ so far from their OWN pockets, astonishing backing. Our Board takes money form the club and disinvests in the squad their Board puts money in and invests more in the squad. (Yes I am pleased we have bought 3 players in. Excellent, but we need more and have taken in over 100m in transfer fees last 3 years!)
I don’t think many clubs could stay solvent any length of time without fans in stadiums worrying times ahead for many and clubs with spare cash could pick up some bargains it would be a buyers market not a sellers.
Every time this idiot mentions the people from the dark side he’s always got to bring us into the equation how did this clown get a main stream media job.
he takes part in a radio phone he needs a reaction if no one phones in hes out a job which is why no celtic fan should take part. theres only one question he needs asked does he stand by what he told andy gray ?.
I personally think clubs may at some point get into financial troubles but how this fuckwit can equate us with financial deaths door of a club at ipox ,I just don’t get it ,keevins must know how deep financial shit they’re in but he tries to drag us down with them,don’t get me wrong if this situation with covid goes on we will eventually feel the financial squeeze but Sevco are struggling like fuck regardless of Sevco ,how are they going to stay afloat,to be honest these bastards should have been buried once and for all this going for 56 and all that shite ,our board could have stopped all the continuation and 55 shit ,but no we let the scum live,I don’t know one Celtic fan who did not want that club to die and go like third Lanark,me and thousands of Celtic fans don’t give a fuck about the old firm ,but our stupid thick as fuck board do,what big stupid Desmond or liewell didn’t know was ,that prick David Murray would have buried us once and for all ,he told his bank to fore closure on loans Celtic had ,knowing fore well that we couldn’t ie we would have done rangers and went into liquidation,but I’m thinking David fuckwit Murray was more switched on than big moustache puss Desmond and I’ll say it again If our board of greedy Tory bastards had backed our team as much as Sevco board backed them we would have been untouchable 10 IAR it could have been FOREVER in a row because make no mistake that was David Murray’s orange bigoted dream
James, I know this is your place of work but I would love to totally Ignore Keevins and not to post on the eeejit. The man has lost the plot, well years ago. He is a pointless non-entity to all football fans.
He has a platform regularly ridiculed by most Football fans who do not have the blue tinted glasses, they are welcome to him and that dross radio program.
Keevins is not the problem, it’s the Scottish media companies who employ 3rd/4th rate pundits and experts for Scottish sports coverage.
Absolutely spot on
Jim Duffy is right we were in a position to win twenty in a row and our board blew it massively. That is the real issue. As I said in my last post they have sellable assets at Ibrox – Patterson a squad player going for over 10m up front. And they have a board that backs them. Their board have played a much smarter hand than ours last two or three years as they built a team to win.