Before I start just one point for the Scottish press.  If I had £6m in 1988 and it grew JUST at the rate of inflation it would be worth £12.42m today.  I’d need to be a bad businessman to turn £6m into £5.5m 22 years later!

We talk about the Celtic family and we talk about our shared heritage and shared identity and there are many things that we do share, but events like the AGM really illustrate how different we can be.  For example the internet is awash with anti-poppy articles and comments, yet the only questions at the AGM which make reference to it are highly critical of the Green Brigade banner.  Fans slaughter Mowbray towards the end for his lack of passion, yet someone at the AGM asked (in a very pleasant non critical manner) for Lennon to Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Just because the people we associate with all have a common opinion we can all at times be guilty of assuming that this is the majority view.  Today showed that pinning down what really IS the majority view can be a bit like grabbing a bar of soap in the bath.

In that regard, there was one wee bit of Celtic business which will go largely un-commented across the traditional media and that was the Trusts resolution and the subsequent vote.  Janette (and I think I kept spelling this wrong on twitter – apologies) made her impassioned statement in support of her motion and received applause.  Reid and Lawwell then made their opposite opinions known.

The first unnoticed thing was that, after all these years of pressuring the board, the Trust have gained concessions.  The Trust want many things including a “fans representative” on the board.  They also want dialogue.  What came out from the boards response today was that they are in greater dialogue than ever before.  You might not believe that the dialogue has merit or value but at least they are meeting and talking with fans – it’s a start.  Perhaps the jaundiced view on some message boards that these meetings are just window dressing illustrates a point I made many years ago when I suggested that as soon as a “fan” was appointed to the board he would immediately lose his legitimacy.  There was one other very important outcome from this debate however.

The Trust know and accept that, despite having vast swathes of the support enfranchised in the running of the club by having 26,000 shareholders, the club is like the rest of society: a small number of people own the vast majority of power.  They therefore hope to have the board adopt their proposals by the fact that the vast majority of shareholders voted for change.  Today, following the debate there was a show of hands followed by a poll vote of those in attendance.  I cannot pre-judge the poll vote, but at the show of hands the trust lost.  They know they cannot get the necessary number of votes per share, but today they couldn’t get even get the majority of individuals.  Now I appreciate that AGM’s are attended by only 1% or 2% of the shareholders but…do the Trust need a radical revamp or are we the supporters just not that bothered?

Anyway I am knackered from the tweeting so the betting part of the article will be brief.  (BTW, having just glanced at KDS I notice some people dissecting every comment by those who tweeted today.  Try using the very small keypad on a phone to write an account of a conversation – oh and summarise it all in 140 characters.  If two people have slightly different accounts it’s not always a media conspiracy!).

Firstly let’s have some mythical matches.  Who will win taking each team’s score from their respective ties?

The premiership would be running scared.  Favourites to beat them all – or is it just because Dundee Utd are rubbish!?

Anyway, I reckon an accumulator on us to beat West Brom, Bolton and Liverpool would be good.

THE SPL

Predictions

One other note.  Last week I suggest betting on Haye in one or Haye in 6.  He went halfway and did it in three, I commented that it was amazing how only the hype had made me doubt anything other than a Haye walkover.  For all of those who bumped their gums – what did you expect?

The Ashes

I think I’ll go for England 3-1.

So at the AGM and at the post AGM conference Reid goes after the SFA and says to Hugh – If You Know Your History.  Prepare for the establishment fight back.  It’s going to be a bumpy ride!