Has this Celtic legend undermined his integrity?

I wonder what planet Charlie Nicholas is living on. Sky pundit Charlie has been in the Daily Record decrying Rangers for cheating him out of medals when he played for Celtic for the second time. Rangers’ punishment for this should be the third division.

Charlie, it seems, is unhappy that while Rangers were buying Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup he was sharing a dressing room with less gifted players. Speaking to the Daily Record, he said: “I was there when we were signing the likes of Wayne Biggins and Martin Hayes – no disrespect to the lads – but it was all the club could afford”.

One key point Charlie fails to highlight is that while big bad Rangers were buying Gascoigne and Laudrup, poor Celtic  were splashing the cash building a new stadium and spending the millions that Rangers had to spend in the early seventies renovating Ibrox to a five star stadium, when Celtic were dominant. For those who don’t know, Celtic Park still does not have a five star rating.

A further point – Charlie is talking about the use of EBTs with Gascoigne and Laudrup when he was playing. There were no EBTSs at that time; they didn’t start until 1998-99. So everything was above board and you lost fair and square. Not thinking this through Charlie, are you? So Rangers should go to the third division without doubt? Have we lost the Big Tax case? Just asking, because last time I looked there hasn’t been a decision. Perhaps Charlie knows something we don’t.

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And Charlie seems to be cherry picking in his assessment of the Celtic team at that time; he lost his place in the first team as Celtic bought Frank McAvennie for a second time. Also the season after Charlie left Celtic, they would sign players of the quality of Paolo Di Canio, Pierre Van Hooijdonk and Jorge Cadete. Hardly bargain basement buys. It is also worth noting that all three of these players are on record as saying Fergus McCann, the Celtic owner, promised them more money if they performed well…was there a dual contract system going on at the Celtic Park?  Unwritten agreements in place?

I notice Charlie has been quiet on one of his former clubs, Aberdeen. Another Scottish club calling for sporting integrity, Aberdeen should have been relegated but avoided it due to SPL rules on other clubs not fitting stadium requirements. The joke at the time was that the club’s nickname the Dons stood for Division One Next Season. And let’s not forget that Motherwell went into administration, walked away from tax and other clubs’ debt, and also finished bottom of the league and avoided relegation. Sporting Integrity!

Back to the Record interview, Charlie is also quoted as saying “They don’t deserve to remain in the SPL and walk away from something like £70 million of debt and be able to carry on as if nothing has happened”. This is of course the same Charlie, whose chain of Glasgow bars went to the wall, owing an estimated one million. Nicholas once hoped to open 20 pubs around Scotland, including a five £5 million Planet Football themed restaurant. Charlie’s business empire collapsed under mountains of debt and Nicholas now concentrates solely on his career as a football pundit and living on planet football.

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