Surprise, surprise. Rangers appoint a new chairman who's a director of IMG, the global marketing company that believes heritage and tradition are only useful if they can be exploited for their own profit, and the prospect of the Old Firm leaving the SPL is back in the media again.
We all know the routine by now. Rangers use what residual power they believe they have to make threatening noises about "needing to leave" Scottish domestic football, presumably in the hope that the authorities will bow to the pressure and cut them a deal.
Celtic, meanwhile, play the humble card, with Chief Exec Peter Lawwell this week saying that the club would only leave the SPL if they were invited to join somewhere else, and only in the interests of "telling the Celtic story". This being a euphemism, of course, for "hoping to make even more money".
Dutifully, though, the media have once again been sucked in, with even Jim Spence on the BBC (normally a journalist who speaks a lot of sense) blogging about the chances of the Old Firm leaving.
Others in the Weegie mafia, meanwhile, breathlessly reported the news that FIFA have said that a move is "possible", as if this has any real value. It's "possible" that George Foulkes could become Scotland's next First Minister, but that doesn't make it any more likely.
At least Rangers are being honest about their intentions, while Celtic are becoming increasingly devious. Lawwell's latest reasoning is that the English Premiership might invite the Old Firm in order to increase the competitiveness of the league, ignoring the fact that such a move would destroy the competitive integrity of the league system - namely, that any club can go up or down.
As Mark McGhee said, who shouldn't Aberdeen (incidentally, the last non-OF team to win the championship, not Dundee Utd, Mr Lawwell) apply to join the Premiership? Or what would happen if Celtic or Rangers, having joined the English top flight, got relegated? Could another Scottish team replace them?
So many questions, so few answers - but then, Celtic and Rangers have never been interested in anything other than themselves. Hence the creation of an SPL rigged to favour the top two teams, which they then point to and say - look at how uncompetitive this league is; we have to leave.
Who knows where this story will end. The only certainty is, we have a lot more of this bleating to come, unfortunately.
Showing posts with label Peter Lawwell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Lawwell. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Think you're attractive? Depends how rich you are.
Celtic's chief executive, Peter Lawwell, was at the Soccerex conference in Dubai last week. Socccerex dubs itself as “the only global convention dedicated to the professional b2b football environment”. In layman’s terms, “how to make money out of the world’s favourite sport”.
Peter Lawwell gave a speech in which he characterised Celtic as one of only 5 or 6 clubs with global appeal, hampered by a domestic league that is “fairly unattractive”. Lawwell has finally accepted that the chances of Celtic joining the English Premiership are non-existent, although expect to hear a lot of bleating from Glasgow if Cardiff ever make it to the promised land. Instead, he is agitating for a yet further expanded elite European competition, a long stated dream of that unlikeable group G14. The aim, of course, is to make more money.
But one wonders if he had the chance to watch last weekend’s Hibs v Celtic match last Sunday before he flew out, because here was football that certainly was attractive for all the right reasons – fast, technical, and exciting. It was a football match that kept the crowd on the edge of the seats for the full 90 minutes, as Celtic fought back from 2-0 down and Hibs held on, before conjuring a chance that would have won them all 3 points right at the death. For all that Scottish football is dismissed as agricultural, just look at the squad of the runaway leaders. Players like Shaun Maloney (last season’s player of the year, by the way), Aiden McGeady and Kenny Miller are quick, skilful and like the ball played to feet, not hoofed at them from 40 yards.
Yes, there were full-blooded tackles, and confrontations between players, that would probably not be allowed anywhere else, but these are part of the character of Scottish football, part of its unique identity, and to be treasured all the more as football increasingly becomes a contact-free sport elsewhere. Not better, not worse – just different.
Compelling spectacle though it was, this match is nowhere near as valuable as a commodity as even the most mundane fixture in the English Premiership. Scottish football is a poor relation compared to its obscenely wealthy neighbour. Easter Road has a capacity of around 17,000, which is an obvious limit on the number of tickets that can be sold for the game. The domestic TV market in Scotland, with a population of only 5 million, is also limited, so the obvious route to growth is through “overseas” sales. In the poly-channel digital TV market, live sports events are increasingly unique, as viewers cannot skip through the ad breaks. This makes them attractive to advertisers and broadcasters alike – just today, BT announced a deal with Setanta to sell Premiership and SPL matches to their broadband customers.
It is not entirely fanciful to suggest that the SPL could grab an increased share of the “overseas” market for televised football. After all, leagues fall in and out of fashion: a decade ago, Serie A was much admired and watched across Europe, before viewers started turning away after too many boring games, and there are signs that the all-conquering Premiership is losing some of its excitement. To do so, however, depends on making the league competitive on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, Hibernian’s own experience of the past week show just how hard that is.
Scott Brown had a great game against Celtic. A tenacious and dynamic midfielder, he is a genuine flair player and has a very promising career in front of him. Everyone – including Hibs – accept that his future probably lies at a bigger club. Unfortunately, that is not enough for the Old Firm. Along with Kevin Thomson, the Hibs captain, Brown changed agents in the summer, and has been promised immediate riches by Willie McKay. Despite only signing an extension to his contract in the summer, McKay has now declared the terms of this contract unacceptable, and has been agitating to renegotiate terms, aided by the Daily Record, who have printed a succession of leaks from the agent while Hibs remain silent. When this failed, the player handed in transfer request after Saturday’s game against Dundee Utd. The clear aim is to force Hibs to sell in January, probably to Rangers, and hopefully for a knockdown fee.
None of this is healthy for the Scottish game. Either Scott Brown stays, and helps Hibs to compete against the Old Firm. Or he leaves, to the highest bidder, earning Hibernian the money to try and replace him and strengthen their squad. Having one of their key players deliberately destabilised is not in Hibs interest, obviously, but here’s the interesting thing – long term, it’s not in the Old Firm’s interests either.
It might be unrealistic to expect Lawwell and his fellow delegates (Willie McKay was at Soccerex too) to put short-term, narrow self-interest aside for a while, and think of the bigger picture. Dubai, after all, is the prime exponent of such thinking - a desert state that found billions of dollars worth of oil under the ground, and had an unprecedented opportunity to create a sustainable legacy for generations to come. Instead, they are splurging the lot on 7 star hotels, environmentally ruinous golf courses and holiday apartments on artificial palm-shaped islands, all built through exploiting cheap migrant labour from the sub-continent.
Celtic – and Rangers – need a healthy SPL. It’s about time they recognised this fact, and did something constructive, rather than endlessly moaning about it.
Peter Lawwell gave a speech in which he characterised Celtic as one of only 5 or 6 clubs with global appeal, hampered by a domestic league that is “fairly unattractive”. Lawwell has finally accepted that the chances of Celtic joining the English Premiership are non-existent, although expect to hear a lot of bleating from Glasgow if Cardiff ever make it to the promised land. Instead, he is agitating for a yet further expanded elite European competition, a long stated dream of that unlikeable group G14. The aim, of course, is to make more money.
But one wonders if he had the chance to watch last weekend’s Hibs v Celtic match last Sunday before he flew out, because here was football that certainly was attractive for all the right reasons – fast, technical, and exciting. It was a football match that kept the crowd on the edge of the seats for the full 90 minutes, as Celtic fought back from 2-0 down and Hibs held on, before conjuring a chance that would have won them all 3 points right at the death. For all that Scottish football is dismissed as agricultural, just look at the squad of the runaway leaders. Players like Shaun Maloney (last season’s player of the year, by the way), Aiden McGeady and Kenny Miller are quick, skilful and like the ball played to feet, not hoofed at them from 40 yards.
Yes, there were full-blooded tackles, and confrontations between players, that would probably not be allowed anywhere else, but these are part of the character of Scottish football, part of its unique identity, and to be treasured all the more as football increasingly becomes a contact-free sport elsewhere. Not better, not worse – just different.
Compelling spectacle though it was, this match is nowhere near as valuable as a commodity as even the most mundane fixture in the English Premiership. Scottish football is a poor relation compared to its obscenely wealthy neighbour. Easter Road has a capacity of around 17,000, which is an obvious limit on the number of tickets that can be sold for the game. The domestic TV market in Scotland, with a population of only 5 million, is also limited, so the obvious route to growth is through “overseas” sales. In the poly-channel digital TV market, live sports events are increasingly unique, as viewers cannot skip through the ad breaks. This makes them attractive to advertisers and broadcasters alike – just today, BT announced a deal with Setanta to sell Premiership and SPL matches to their broadband customers.
It is not entirely fanciful to suggest that the SPL could grab an increased share of the “overseas” market for televised football. After all, leagues fall in and out of fashion: a decade ago, Serie A was much admired and watched across Europe, before viewers started turning away after too many boring games, and there are signs that the all-conquering Premiership is losing some of its excitement. To do so, however, depends on making the league competitive on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, Hibernian’s own experience of the past week show just how hard that is.
Scott Brown had a great game against Celtic. A tenacious and dynamic midfielder, he is a genuine flair player and has a very promising career in front of him. Everyone – including Hibs – accept that his future probably lies at a bigger club. Unfortunately, that is not enough for the Old Firm. Along with Kevin Thomson, the Hibs captain, Brown changed agents in the summer, and has been promised immediate riches by Willie McKay. Despite only signing an extension to his contract in the summer, McKay has now declared the terms of this contract unacceptable, and has been agitating to renegotiate terms, aided by the Daily Record, who have printed a succession of leaks from the agent while Hibs remain silent. When this failed, the player handed in transfer request after Saturday’s game against Dundee Utd. The clear aim is to force Hibs to sell in January, probably to Rangers, and hopefully for a knockdown fee.
None of this is healthy for the Scottish game. Either Scott Brown stays, and helps Hibs to compete against the Old Firm. Or he leaves, to the highest bidder, earning Hibernian the money to try and replace him and strengthen their squad. Having one of their key players deliberately destabilised is not in Hibs interest, obviously, but here’s the interesting thing – long term, it’s not in the Old Firm’s interests either.
It might be unrealistic to expect Lawwell and his fellow delegates (Willie McKay was at Soccerex too) to put short-term, narrow self-interest aside for a while, and think of the bigger picture. Dubai, after all, is the prime exponent of such thinking - a desert state that found billions of dollars worth of oil under the ground, and had an unprecedented opportunity to create a sustainable legacy for generations to come. Instead, they are splurging the lot on 7 star hotels, environmentally ruinous golf courses and holiday apartments on artificial palm-shaped islands, all built through exploiting cheap migrant labour from the sub-continent.
Celtic – and Rangers – need a healthy SPL. It’s about time they recognised this fact, and did something constructive, rather than endlessly moaning about it.
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