The Day I was on the Scotland U-23 Bench

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It’s been a crappy year. If you don’t believe me, look at the two lists below this piece – full of people who have left us since Jan 1 2016. Some might say in a post Brexit/Trump world they are all better off, but that is neither here nor there.

In addition we have witnessed yet another year of the “black is white – new is old” suspension of disbelief argument from the football authorities. The same dysfunctional crew who gave us the 5-way agreement and whose cerebral CPU cycles are dominated by a strategy to choose the correct term to use for various concepts like; liquidation, Rangers FC, pitch invasion, independent inquiry, (to name just a few).
They now think we will be satisfied with what their crack investigation into child sex abuse – and its no doubt cherry-picked and narrow terms of reference – will come up with.

Still in place at Hampden, is a Press Officer who thinks he IS the SFA, and a chief executive who should BE the SFA, but who prefers, in his own words to do “nothing”. These are the people who, in the midst of a public debate over concerns for racism and homophobia in the game, have given a coaching job involving young people to a man who has been proven a racist and a homophobe.

These are the people who constantly have their hands out for public funds, including one to fund a grade-A bonkers facial recognition scheme to root out sectarianism (and all the other ISMS that they have just endorsed by appointing Malky Mackay).

Yet we complain about the Americans when they elect an insane man to power?

All is however not lost. Within living memory, and since it is Christmas, I’d like to relate a warm, cuddly, sentimental and very true story about the late Jock Stein. It is proof that there was a time before the madness that has enveloped Scottish Football when real people of quality, blessed with empathy for fans, roamed these lands.

Rewind to 13th May 1975. Myself and three great friends, two teenagers from each half of the Old Firm, decided to walk over to Hampden Park to see Scotland playing a friendly match against Portugal. Two of the guys – ironically the Rangers ones – lived in a wee street right across the road from Celtic Park, and we set out from ‘their bit’, walking through Strathie’s Park and down Springfield Road into Dalmarnock Road. We were a bit behind schedule and of course we were all skint so we had to walk. As my mates dithered, I walked on ahead shouting at them something like ‘hurry up!’ (although a tad less politely).

As I approached the junction of Dalmarnock Road and Adelphi Street, I absent-mindedly did a bit of jay-walking and was nearly hit on the backside by a ton of German tin making a left turn. The passenger window of the car was rolled down, and I prepared an impetuous come-back to what I was sure was going to be a rollicking.

Instead, a strangely familiar man in a thick Irish brogue poked his head out of the window and said; “Where you going?”

As my brain registered “Sean Fallon”, I made a quick connection, turned to the driver and saw that it was Big Jock. Thoughts of “what an honour to be knocked down by Jock Stein” flashed through my befuddled between-ear mass.

Recovering quickly;  “To the game” I said.

“Jump in!” shouted Mr Stein

“My pals are just behind me”

“Tell them to jump in as well”

I never asked the guys when they realised it was the greatest living Scotsman driving the car, but we didn’t know many folk with a Merc, so I suppose they knew it wasn’t a relative who had stopped me.

The four of us climbed into the spacious big bench seat in the back of the car for the fifteen minute journey. Immediate questions.

Yes Jock (we were pals by now 🙂 ) was going to the game and so was Sean, but they were going home for something to eat first. Yes, it was a great perk of being a manager that you didn’t have to queue, but what did we think of the team?

The chat at the time was that Kenny Dalglish hadn’t hit it off with Scotland because Bremner was cramping his style. Bremner was injured that night, so my pal Gerry Connor (permission to use his name has been granted!) told The Boss (we were really close by now) that we expected KD fireworks.

What did we think of Hutchinson? Since it definitely appeared to be posed in rhetorical fashion we chose “not very much”.
The Gaffer concurred.

One of the Rangers guys (Big Jimmy) wondered aloud why Alfie Conn, by then of Spurs, was not selected. It was a ridiculous situation said my mate. Probably keeping him for the U-23s he thought out loud, before realising that Jock was the then Under 23 manager.

“Oh, eh, um, sorry! I forgot that was you!” said Big Jimmy. “No worries, he’s a very good player” said Big John (by now we felt we had known him forever).

Truth is, we were scared shitless; totally in awe of the man driving, DRIVING US, to the match. He really wanted to know what we thought, who we liked to see play, who we would pick who wasn’t in the squad.

Another thing was that despite it being huge for us all, we all wanted it it over with as quickly as possible so we could talk about it. But it wasn’t over yet. The final flourish was when we got dropped off at the Beechwood. We got out of the car as the crowds were descending on Hampden. Stein’s car was noticed right away, but who were these young scallywags emerging fro the back?

“Thanks Boss, thanks Sean!” we all shouted so the bystanders could ear. Stein smiled, waved at us and sped off to Kings Park for his dinner.

“See you in the morning Gaffer!”

Chests puffed out, we all assumed the pose of Scotland Under-23 starlets. Scotland won 1-0, but I can honestly say I don’t remember a bloody thing about that match. I do remember being on the Scotland U-23 bench though 🙂

The moral of the story is clear to me. In the background of Dave Scott’s claim in our podcast that the SFA needed to get its act together, and to engage more with the fans, the men of the Stein mould, our greatest football generation, are perhaps the last generation to possess the ability to do that.

He could have just beeped loudly in frustration and went off home for his dinner that evening, but he saw four young fans – guys who loved the game anyway – and made us love it a bit more after that fifteen minute ride. For a few minutes out of his time, Jock Stein gave us all a lifetime of a cherished memory, which I have dined out on, and will continue to dine out on, forever.

Many years later, footballers of that era told me that it was commonplace for the likes of Billy McNeill and John Grieg to do the same in Glasgow, for Pat Stanton and Davie Holt in Edinburgh, and for Alex Hamilton and Jerry Kerr in Dundee.

Sadly, three decades later, I regularly witnessed footballers go to extraordinary lengths to avoid autograph hunters, ducking out of back doors and having stewards deliver their cars to remote places away from the public gaze.

Of the four lucky boys who chanced upon Jock Stein that night, I am still in touch with two. Big Jimmy has fallen of the radar, last heard of in England somewhere – as is Gerry, condemned to a purgatory of watching Blackburn Rovers!

Despite that, we will always share the bond of the night we were on the Under-23 bench seat in the back of Big Jock’s Merc.

We should remember that the game in this country prospered when it was more in tune with the people who followed it. Perhaps market equilibrium will one day bring it back, who knows, but for now, football is an industry where no-one in control at the clubs gives a flying doo-doo what we think.

 

At least we still have our memories. Of the great Jock Stein, to whom I was briefly related, of his assistant Sean Fallon, who I got to know a bit in later years, and of many football folk I was privileged enough to know, and who are no longer with us.

Just like the class of 2016 below, we miss them all.

 

Non Football Deaths in 2016

Date Name Age
04 Jan Robert Stigwood Producer 81
08 Jan David Bowie Musician 69
14 Jan Alan Rickman Actor 69
15 Jan DanHaggerty Grizzly Adams Actor 74
18 Jan Glen Frey Musician 67
28 Jan Paul Kantner Musician 74
19 Feb Harper Lee Author 89
28 Feb George Kennedy Actor 91
08 Mar George Martin Producer 90
09 Mar Robert Horton Wagon Train Actor 91
10 Mar Keith Emerson Musician 71
17 Mar Larry Drake LA Law Actor 66
18 Mar Joe Santos Rockford Files Actor 84
22 Mar Richard Bradford Man in a Suitcase Actor 81
24 Mar Garry Shandling Comedian 66
06 Apr Merle Haggard Musician 79
21 Apr Prince Musician 57
24 Apr Billy Paul Musician 81
19 May Alan Young Mr Ed Actor 96
03 Jun Muhammad Ali Boxer 74
14 Jun Ronnie-Claire Edwards Waltons Actor 83
28 Jun Scotty Moore Musician 84
19 Jul Garry Marshall Actor/Producer 81
13 Aug Kenny Baker Star Wars Actor 81
20 Aug Gene Wilder Actor 83
06 Sep Hugh O’Brian Wyatt Earp Actor 91
25 Sep Arnold Palmer Golfer 87
28 Sep Shimon Peres Politician 93
14 Oct Jean Alexander Coronation St Actor 90
24 Oct Bobby Vee Singer 73
24 Oct Pete Burns Musician 57
03 Nov Kaye Starr Singer 94
07 Nov Leonard Cohen Musician 82
11 Nov Robert Vaughan Actor 83
13 Nov Leon Russell Musician 74
25 Nov Fidel Castro Politician 90
06 Dec Peter Vaughan Porridge Actor 93
07 Dec Greg Lake Musician 69
08 Dec John Glenn Astronaut 95
18 Dec Zsa-Zsa Gabor Actor 99
24 Dec Rick Parfitt Musician 67
24 Dec Liz Smith Royle Family Actor 95
25 Dec George Michael Musician 53
27 Dec Carrie Fisher Actor 60
28 Dec Debbie Reynolds Actor 84

 

 

Football Deaths in 2016

Date Name Club Age
22 Jan Tommy Bryceland St Mirren 76
22 Jan John Dowie Celtic 60
04 Feb Harry Glasgow Clyde 76
24 Feb Jim McFadzean Kilmarnock & Hearts 77
11 Mar Billy Ritchie Rangers Goalkeeper 79
20 Mar Alan Cousin Dundee, Hibs & Falkirk 78
24 Mar Johan Cruyff Ajax, Barcelona 68
31 Mar Jimmy Toner Dundee 92
06 May Chris Mitchell Queen of the South 27
11 May Bobby Carroll Celtic 77
14 May John Coyle Dundee United 83
20 Jun Willie Logie Rangers, Aberdeen 83
03 Jul Jimmy Frizzell Morton 79
06 Jul Davie Nicol Falkirk 80
08 Jul Jackie McInally Kilmarnock 79
21 Jul Dick Donnelly East Fife Goalkeper/Journalist 74
05 Aug Joe Davis Hibs Captain 75
21 Aug Rab Stewart Dunfermline 54
05 Sep Max Murray Rangers 80
13 Sep Matt Gray Third Lanark 80
01 Oct David Herd Man United & Scotland 82
10 Oct Eddie O’Hara Falkirk & Everton 80
16 Oct George Peebles Dunfermline 80
18 Oct Gary Sprake Leeds United 71
08 Nov Ian Cowan Partick Thistle, Falkirk & DAFC 71
16 Nov Daniel Prodan Rangers 44
25 Nov Jim Gillespie Dunfermline 69
26 Nov Davie Provan Rangers 75
10 Dec Tommy McCulloch Clyde Goalkeeper 82
11 Dec Charlie McNeil Stirling Albion 53
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About Big Pink

Big Pink is John Cole; a former schoolteacher based in the West of Scotland, He is also a print and broadcast journalist who is engaged in the running of SFM . Former gigs include Newstalk 106, the Celtic View, and Channel67. A Celtic fan, he is also the voice of our podcast initiative.

653 thoughts on “The Day I was on the Scotland U-23 Bench”


  1. I watched the game in a busy English bar. Only me interested apart from a fella from Dublin who claimed to be a Rangers fan. At least Rangers had a go unlike My team who generally lie down against Celtic. 
    Speaking through my pocket(I’d backed Celtic-1) I was disappointed Celtic didn’t go for the jugular in the last 10 minutes when the Rangers defence was knackered.
    Considering you Celtic fans care not a jot about Rangers you certainly celebrated wildly at the end.
    Happy and healthy 2017 to all contributors to SFM blog 0404


  2. Got a lift home after watching game in a 50/50 bar, good atmosphere and no hassle,, Clyde on the radio  BFDG replied to a caller that it could be surmised that the titles Celtic won whilst TRFC  were not there could have an asterisk against them, made my day still trying to jack my jaw up of the deck, even Keevins commented that it was financial mismanagement by the board that put rangers where they were. The guy is comedy gold


  3. Off out to strum the banjo to bring in the New Year – and my er, 16th birthday (I’ve written all the correct numbers) 🙂

    So when it comes, I want to wish each and every one of you a happy and successful New Year.

    I hope that 2017 will bring some justice to fans of the beautiful game, and a growing influence for SFM in the footie arena.


  4. It was a nervy game for me, but job done. 02  Happy New Year to one and all on here.  Especially Jean who comes on rarely, about two lines, but is always poiite  God Bless.


  5. Big PinkDecember 31, 2016 at 18:27
    ___________________________________________
    Snap!!! I use the same maths as you!!


  6. Aw thanks Jimbo!! I am not the sharpest tool in the box but I do refuse to be uninformed. I have been able to use a lot of the info from you guys on here to educate the uninformed and it is a delight to do so.
    All the best to you and yours.


  7. Well, it is now broad daylight  in Birkdale, Queensland, and we have had a great Hogmanay party, the last guest ( a New Zealander) and his wife hving just left twenty minutes or so ago.
    The Scottish element was fairly to the fore, most of the twenty or so adult guests being connected one way or another with things Scottish.
    A very pleasant evening was had by all, in that civilised child-centric Australian way, where the menfolk look more anxiousy after the toddlers than the womenfolk.
    Let me wish all of the readers of this blog the very best in their personal lives over 2017, and that we all in our colllective sports/foootball lives succeed in getting our Football Authorities to acknowledge the great disservice they have done to the idea of Sporting Integrity, and take the necessary steps to undo the terrible damage they have done .
    This will require a degree of moral courage.
    But they really do have to bite the bullet.


  8. I’ve just spent around half an hour on a prominent Rangers* forum gauging reaction to today’s game and the perceived gap between “the two Glasgow giants”. To be fair, amongst the thousands of comments, there was some degree of reality displayed by a small number of posters who rightly pointed out that it will take many years for Rangers* to challenge for the top title. Those realistic assessments acknowledged that Celtic had infinitely superior finances and correspondingly superior players. However, such pragmatic opinions were very much in the minority.

    Putting aside the obvious distortion of the facts prevalent in some comments (eg “getting back to our rightful place” and “since we were sent down to the 3rd division”), two things stood out for me amongst the myriad of comments.

    Firstly, the view that someone/anyone must overinvest in the club because the current board clearly isn’t going to do so, and ‘ten in a row’ must not be allowed to happen under any circumstances. They really do seem incapable of grasping the concept of living within their means and appear oblivious to the possibility of repeating precisely the same process which led the previous club to die such a self-inflicted and barely lamented death.

    Secondly, I was gobsmacked to read comments from some posters urging patience amongst the support, as they should be grateful for being where they are today considering they nearly lost their club altogether in 2012!

    As a Hearts fan who lived through the terror of very nearly losing my club, I’d love to ask a Rangers* supporter just how is it possible to lose their club if it isn’t through a legal insolvency process resulting in the liquidation of your club!  


  9. Dear Highlander, It takes a brave man to go in to go in to one of the peepuls forums.Now go and have a bath10


  10. Happy New Year ,to one and all.Much love and kisses to all of humanity.And dogs.


  11. Ally jambo.
    I participated  in that Twitter exchange and on the matter of who had the authority to address the subject – for example ASA – said.
    @grahamruthven @tic_tac_tic @gjust67 ASA have as much authority on subject as Griegs to proclaim on the Hadron Colliders efficacy as an oven
    It is an example  of either msm’s incompetence or compliance in an attempt to convince us the Earth indeed is flat.


  12. I mentioned earlier elsewhere, that I was in a very busy Celtic pub to watch the game Rangers v Celtic.  When the minute’s silence began, the whole pub was hushed.  The owner didn’t pre announce it, it just happened.  Most people are decent.  As is often said after the terrible football tragedies, you expect to come home safe and well from a football match.  RIP.


  13. HIGHLANDERDECEMBER 31, 2016 at 22:36

    ===============================

    I listened to part of the Radio Clyde phone-in yesterday and there were repeated statements from all the pundits that ‘someone’ will have to invest tens of millions in Rangers. A ‘Fergus McCann type figure was mentioned more than once.

    Firstly to invest money means to put into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit. That is exactly what Fergus McCann did with Celtic, he made it clear from the outlet that was his aim, but he left behind a vibrant, profitable football club with high quality directors who have maintained his legacy to this day.  

    This simply would not work for Rangers fans in my view, as their insistence of reigning supreme will always mean living outwith their means.  


  14. A poster on the John James site has labelled all of us fine SFM people ‘a bunch of stuck up, ignorant and self “back slapping” prevaricating nobodies.’


  15. upthehoopsJanuary 1, 2017 at 12:01 
    ”  A poster on the John James site has labelled all of us fine SFM people ‘a bunch of stuck up, ignorant and self “back slapping” prevaricating nobodies.”
    ________
    There’s a fair chance that that poster is ignorant of the meaning of ‘ignorant’, and the meaning of ‘prevaricating’.
    Because, of course, we on the SFM actually do know the Truth, and do not in the least hold back from enunciating it loudly, clearly and explicitly at any and every opportunity.
    We do not bugger about, but tell things bluntly as they are:
    TRFC is not RFC(IL), is not entitled to wear the badges or claim the honours etc legitimately won by RFC(IL),
    the 5-way agreement was a disgraceful act of betrayal of the very notion of Sporting Integrity,
    and our Football Governance is as rotten at the core as a blighted spud.
    No lack of knowledge, and no prevarication. Let’s call the liars out, and restore some decency and honour to our game. That is what we are about.
    Much better, incidentally, to be ‘stuck up’ [whatever the poster might mean by that!] than be like him and those thousands of people who were ‘stitched up’ by SDM, and CW, and CG, and God alone knows how many other cheats, liars and sundry convicted criminals and carpet-baggers and charlatans on the make-with their money!


  16. A happy new year to all you guys and girls on the S.F.M.
    Btw UTH, … ah’m goin’ over to JJ’s site right now tae have a wee word wi’ the said Poster !!  19


  17. UPTHEHOOPSJANUARY 1, 2017 at 12:01       6 Votes 
    A poster on the John James site has labelled all of us fine SFM people ‘a bunch of stuck up, ignorant and self “back slapping” prevaricating nobodies.’
    —————————
    And a happy new year to that poster to21


  18. If the cap fits ?
    Here again from “Big Pink” anyone who disagrees are idiots. They don’t know the meaning of the words “Ignorant” and “Prevaricating”, really.

    You are not telling us anything new as :

    Everyone knows TRIFC is not RFC, we know.
    We all know the LNS report was/is unlawful, illegal and a sham.
    We all know the 5 way agreement is corrupt.
    We all know Res 12 guys have worked there buts off without help from my own club CFC.
    Honours should and hopefully will be stripped after the BTC appeal fails at the SC.
    That the SFA is rotten to the core, we know.

    I keep hearing that the SFM doesn’t p–s about, but all you blog is what EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS, there is no breaking news that I have read here since its inception after RTC.
    All we get, if someone disagrees, is insults and detrimental slagging as if we are not worthy or as educated as the chosen few on here. There is some fantastic people on here who contribute, but if its not fiscal orientated then this site is a very poor let down.
    You say “We on here know the truth”, where did you learn the truth from might I ask ? you took all your truth from other blogs, as outwith Jimbo, Auldheid and a couple of others you know practically zero.

    You may think SFM is hard hitting and up-to-date, that’s why your accused of back slapping each other when you just print complete rubbish and that’s only 4 or 5 times a year.


  19. Bill1903December 31, 2016 at 16:09
    ‘..Considering you Celtic fans care not a jot about Rangers you certainly celebrated wildly at the end.’
    _____________
    It is not to be wondered at, Bill1903, that the new club which pretends to be the RFC(IL) which so grievously cheated and damaged the entire fabric of Scottish Football for so many years is seen as being of the same nature as that cheating club!

    Who on earth wants cheats to win ( apart from the cheats themselves, of course)?

    TRFC, falsely claiming all the ‘good’ things that may have belonged to RFC(IL) , repudiates any liability for the deceitful behaviour of SDM in cheating us all, and cannot therefore reasonably expect to be treated with anything but contempt.

    The whole of Scottish Football knows that TRFC is the cuckoo in the nest for as long as it denies the Truth : that it NOT RFC(IL), and that it is in Scottish Football as a new club only by what no less a honourable man than Turnbull Hutton was not afraid to call ‘Corruption.

    Not only Celtic fans rejoice when TRFC is humbled.
    Any ordinary person who believes in a fair ,competitive ,unrigged sport simply cannot stomach the kind of cheating that we now KNOW went on and was fostered, feckin’ fostered ,by the body in charge of Football Governance.

    And should therefore also rejoice.


  20. As someone who generally avoids JJ’s site, my interest was piqued enough by a few of the above comments to go and see what all the fuss was about. It seems that JJ is dismissive of SFM as being inhabited by grumpy old men going over the same old ground repeatedly, with no discernible end product.

    My brief sojourn onto JJ’s site seems to confirm that the quantity of his output is considerable and he definitely covers more subjects than SFM does. That, and his recent blogging award are indeed commendable and I have no issue with the quality or quantity of his output.

    However, he might want to ask himself a few pertinent questions before he derides those who post on SFM.

    Have the Scottish football authorities been held to account for their shameful actions following the death of Rangers Football Club, as a direct result of JJ’s blog?

    Are we any closer to seeing sporting integrity usurp financial expediency as the number one priority in the eyes of those who run Scottish football, as a direct result of JJ’s blog?

    Have unfairly won titles and silverware been removed from the Ibrox boardroom and record books, as a direct result of JJ’s blog?

    Is the board of the club currently operating out of Ibrox free of individuals who might be considered dishonest and untrustworthy, as a direct result of JJ’s blog? 

    If the answer to any one of these questions is in the affirmative, then maybe JJ could be forgiven for rebuking those likeminded people on SFM who, after all, only want the world to know the truth, just as he presumably does. If, on the other hand, the answer to all the questions above is negative, where is his discernible end product? The words rank and hypocrisy spring to mind.

     


  21. HighlanderJanuary 1, 2017 at 13:52
    ‘…Have the Scottish football authorities been held to account for their shameful actions following the death of Rangers Football Club, as a direct result of JJ’s blog?’
    _____
    The key point, as you rightly recognise, Highlander, is the need for us all to bring the SFA ( shorthand for the various elements of Scottish Football Governance) to account.

    They have not yet been called to account in the sense of actually being arraigned and kicked out of office. The really guilty parties are being protected by their peers.

    Celtic plc refuses to challenge the SFA’s award of a licence to an unentitled club.
    And, of course, all clubs acquiesced in the admittance to Scottish Football of a new club falsely representing itself as the disgracefully rotten club that had been RFC, which is now in liquidation.

    And, most importantly, the hacks of the SMSM have propagandised on behalf of the false new club , lying through their teeth, as eagerly as did the hacks in the Third Reich under that most despicable (puts me in mind of despicable club chairmen) Goebbels.

    But, just as, ultimately, those Nazi truth distorters were exposed as the really, really nasty specimens of sub-humanity that  they were, so will the little, feeble, dwarves of SFA ‘gauliters’ and place-men ,and their likes on the boards of our clubs, be exposed as , frankly, the little toalies that they are.
    Toalies, without even the pretence of acting in any kind of ’cause’ other than petty self-interest.

    The Nazi lie was at least dressed up, however cynically, as some kind of ‘noble’ cause.

    The SFA, SPFL lie is for what? -gate and TV money for a game of football!!

    A game! A sport! And they are ready to lie and cheat and dishonour themselves.

    They have been found out.

    And we will, sooner or later, bring them to account.
    Just as the worst of the Nazis were brought to account  scores of years after they thought they were home and dry.

    The bad guys know they are bad guys. That is their principal punishment.

    We can be relaxed enough about whether a more visible and tangible punishment might be, in justice, inflicted.

    I know that I would rather be me, than Peter Lawwell or Dermot Desmond , or Regan of the SFA or Doncaster of the SPFL or nearly every club chairman/CEO.
    And certainly, I’d rather be a despised polician than an SMSM hack, or a Radio Scotland Sportsound ‘presenter’.


  22. Wow John James has really got it in for SFM today for some reason.
    Shame as I enjoy his site at times.
    Ive never believed for a minute he’s a Rangers fan but he’d get less attention if he was just another Celtic fan with a grudge.


  23. Bill1903January 1, 2017 at 15:39
    “..Wow John James has really got it in for SFM today for some reason.Shame as I enjoy his site at times.Ive never believed for a minute he’s a Rangers fan but he’d get less attention if he was just another Celtic fan with a grudge.”
    _____
    bill1903, can you sort of explain yourself to one of simple mind such s I?
    I mentioned the other day that I had taken the granweans to see ‘Trolls’, and for some , perhaps inexcusable reason, the word ‘troll’ popped up when I read your last few posts.
    Only because they seem to be sort of unconnected to , ahem, reality.
    The fault is undoubtedly mine, and I would love to be corrected.
    But them wee bugger trolls had a profound effect on my granweans!
    And trolling on SFM is ,sort of, taboo.


  24. Just for clarification, ZAM1 has incorrectly attributed comments to me 🙁


  25. My apologies Big Pink, It was John Clarke I should have directed the response to, Sorry.


  26. ZAM1JANUARY 1, 2017 at 13:01  You say “We on here know the truth”, where did you learn the truth from might I ask ? you took all your truth from other blogs, as outwith Jimbo, Auldheid and a couple of others you know practically zero.

    ===============================

    Firstly, a happy and prosperous 2017 to you.

    What makes you so sure that apart from those you mention none of us know anything of substance? 


  27. Wow accused of being a troll by the great John Clarke!!
    Ill have to have a re-read of what I’ve written.
    Certainly not my intention 
    A slightly alternative view has got to have a voice on here surely.
    Very few Aberdeen fans left on here sadly


  28. BILL1903JANUARY 1, 2017 at 18:35  Very few Aberdeen fans left on here sadly.

    ====================

    If that’s the case Bill, please stay! I’ve always found your contribution to be good.


  29. UTH, I don’t deserve to be mentioned alongside Auldheid.  Let me tell you a story.

    A while back, BP was talking about further developments for this site.  Including perhaps a links section for clubs throughout Scotland.  I still think that is a good idea.  The best Rangers one I knew at that time was Rangers Supporters Loyal.  Run by Merlin.  So I posted a couple of comments to him to see if he would be interested in linking up with us. He didn’t exactly sound enthusiastic but he didn’t write it off either.  Nowadays I would suggest Ibrox Noise.

    Anyway, a few days later the site closed down.  And JohnJames sprung up. He was a big contributor to RSL.  For all his faults, he still worth listening to.  I went to Manchester and met him, have had many disagreements with him, but as I said on his site earlier, we are all arguing the same argument.

    Happy New Year.


  30. “Rangers brace themselves for Joe Garner injury update amid fears striker won’t be back for end of winter break”
    “Rangers are awaiting the results of a specialist’s report on the shoulder injury sustained by Joe Garner during the Old Firm clash at Ibrox.”

    I understand that the THE Rangers FC are as entitled to send an injured employee to the local A&E as any other local employer,  I just hope there is no queue jumping going on as in my experience it can take a wee while before you even get to see a NHS specialist never mind have his report on your GP’s desk in as little as three weeks.


  31. COATBRIDGELOYALTYCAD

    I suspect the specialist they are referring to is doing this as private work, I would imagine being paid by Rangers’ insurers.

    I know they use private specialists for that sort of thing.


  32. So, the roofs stayed on and nobody was hurt by falling debris . The minute’s silence punctured by fans of both teams . Banned,sectarian songs belted out with gay abandon. Match officials making decisions using differing criteria for the opposing teams .
    I caught but an hour of the derby as I had a game to go to and think TRFC punched themselves out in the first 25 minutes and were there for the taking thereafter . And TRFC nailed the practice of putting the ball out to allow treatment to an injured player- shouldn’t happen again. 
    And I note that some folk are appending an errant “e” to JC’s name -he’ll be in a high dudgeon on his return from Oz over that . A happy and pprosperous 2017 to one and all .
    We wuz robbed, by the way !


  33. JIMBOJANUARY 1, 2017 at 19:50

    ===============================

    Jimbo,

    A happy and prosperous 2017 to you.

    I have nothing against the John James site in general.  I look in most days and he certainly delivers some interesting blogs. I am just a bit peeved why this site is getting it in the neck. I think we all have a common goal at the end of the day. That goal is certainly not to end the existence of a football club at Ibrox forever. We all just want the truth to be stated and recognised by the Scottish mainstream media and the Scottish football authorities. 


  34. Jimbo
    Your fondness for Johnjames and his work is something I find difficult to understand. His arithmetic is often found to be wildly inaccurate. His fondness for unattributed quotes and downright plagiarism give a measure of his abilities and attitudes. He has an aversion to education which is unedifying and betrays a lack of insight as to its purposes at higher levels. 
    I have sufficient education (in more than one discipline) to know how little I know and to be able to identify charlatianism there is more than a hint of that in his self congratulatory output strip away the otiose and we are left with a small kernel of possible good information.
    There  is a lot of analysis given and accepted in good spirit and folk are happy to say that they are wrong when shown to be.


  35. BFBPUZZLED
    JANUARY 1, 2017 at 20:19
    ======================

    I agree. 

    I would add that he posts some really vile stuff occasionally, which he sometimes removes if people take him to task over it.

    As to the puerile keyboard hard man threats, as I have said before they are a bit ironic coming from someone who bemoans threats made to him.

    One is left wondering how many of the “Great blog JJ, how can I donate money to you” comments are actually just made by him. I’m afraid his performance at the award ceremony, and subsequent story regarding it being someone else just re-inforced what I already thought, that he is something of a fantasist.

    He has spoken before of his inability to see his children. If it was “The Mensch” who collected the award he did a good job of breaking down because of his inability to see his children. Unless of course …


  36. HomunculusJanuary 1, 2017 at 20:08 COATBRIDGELOYALTYCAD
    I suspect the specialist they are referring to is doing this as private work, I would imagine being paid by Rangers’ insurers.
    ***********
    If that’s the case then why did Garner have to access the specialist by attending the A&E department of the local hospital and having to take a seat in the public waiting area
    Was Ross Hall private Hospital just along the road closed for the day


  37. COATBRIDGELOYALTYCADJANUARY 1, 2017 at 22:06
    If that’s the case then why did Garner have to access the specialist by attending the A&E department of the local hospital and having to take a seat in the public waiting areaWas Ross Hall private Hospital just along the road closed for the day
    —————————-
    THE full list of creditors is as follows:
    A K Ray, Ross Hall Hospital, Glasgow £150
    Ross Hall Hospital, Glasgow £770.50

    —————
    would they have the cheek to show face/
    but then again
    Scottish Ambulance Service £8,438.40


  38. COATBRIDGELOYALTYCAD

    No idea what staff it would have on duty on new year’s eve, or access to equipment such as x-ray machines. Do Ross Hall deal with situations like that or is everything planned in advance. 

    My point however is that wherever he went that does not preclude him from then getting private health care after the initial assessment was made.

    I could go to a GP who tells me that I need a certain treatment but it will be a 3 month wait. I could then go to a private hospital who could say if you are willing to pay we will do it tomorrow.  I know people who have done it, using insurance they pay for. 


  39. I don’t think Joe Garner or anyone for that matter can turn up at Rosshall. It’s not an A&E. I think they would only deal with planned care. If you were privately insured and had a road traffic accident, they wouldn’t take you to Ross Hall. He’d get whatever was required at the” Lizzie” and then seen at Ross Hall for follow up. 


  40. Happy new year to one and all.

    In regards to Mr. Garner attending A&E…nothing wrong with that…although I would suggest he should have been either allowed to wait out of site of the general public due to him still wearing his full kit or at least have him clothed in something that would prevent him being identified.

    there is another discussion to have…the club should have had it’s own doctor and medical team on hand to deal with the injury he is reported to have…dislocation of the shoulder…I would imagine they needed an x-ray…a quick call to a private establishment would have gained them the x-ray they needed at a premium cost…maybe they made the call and were turned away or could not gain access to any such facility…who knows…

    Regardless of this…I have never come across any professional player who has been sent to A&E with his full kit on and made to wait in what could have been a hostile environment…with an injury that did not necessarily need a wait in A&E and should have been dealt with by their own team doctor and medical team?

    Do they still have their own team Doctor? Do they have a qualified medical team? if they do…one would have thought the team doctor or medical staff would have had enough background to their position to have at least had a discussion with the on duty A&E staff to have prevented the wait in a public A&E waiting area?

    There is something not quite right with this…I suspect the club may have sent the player with a member of non medical staff…if they have then they did not think the injury that concerning…which would make it even more confusing!  


  41. PAULMAC2JANUARY 2, 2017 at 01:36
    Regardless of this…I have never come across any professional player who has been sent to A&E with his full kit on and made to wait in what could have been a hostile environment…
    ————————-
    Hostile………..To right it could have been hostile.
    Sending a player with full kit on stars and everything,pretending to be the same club.A club that owes you money (Scottish Ambulance Service £8,438.40).
    And you stand there wanting treatement given to your player dressed in full kit.A blody slap in the face it was for the A&E.
    I’m surprised when the picture was in the papers TSMSM who claim it is the same club never ran with the story Rangers player sit’s Embarrassed in A&E waiting treatment and the club owe Scottish Ambulance Service £8,438.40.
    There was a front page headline grabber right there.But then again am i surprised the SMSM never ran it.
    I am surprised no one asked any journalists.You have that picture in front of you and you claim it is the same club.And this same club owes A&E money,what do you think


  42. UPTHEHOOPSJANUARY 1, 2017 at 20:09       12 Votes 
    JIMBOJANUARY 1, 2017 at 19:50
    ===============================
    Jimbo,
    A happy and prosperous 2017 to you.
    I have nothing against the John James site in general.  I look in most days and he certainly delivers some interesting blogs. I am just a bit peeved why this site is getting it in the neck. I think we all have a common goal at the end of the day. That goal is certainly not to end the existence of a football club at Ibrox forever. We all just want the truth to be stated and recognised by the Scottish mainstream media and the Scottish football authorities. 
    ————————–
    And that common goal should not be distracted by needles point scoring.That common goal should be about sharing information and finding truth that the SMSM or scottish football authorities don’t want the general man on the street to know about.The average man on the street who does not trust either just want’s to look into Blogs and find out what he is not being told.He does not care who has sources or who got the information first,All he cares about is he being told the truth and is the game he loves honestly governed


  43. I am sure that, in the past, many a professional footballer was reported in the media as being taken to the local A&E department for treatment, though I’ve never read or heard of any ‘star’ being spotted sitting around in the waiting room. In recent years I had presumed they would be fast-tracked by virtue of an arrangement with a private health-care company that they would be in attendance pdq and, at the very least, the club would pay for a side ward (on standby on match days) to ensure any injured player was kept out of the gaze of possibly drunk opposing supporters or over fawning own club fans. I may be wrong on that, but I bet when they told him he was signing for a big club, Joe Garner thought that meant the kind of club that didn’t leave it’s players exposed to this kind of unwanted attention at a time of personal trauma!


  44. CLUSTER ONE JANUARY 2, 2017 at 10:28

    you claim it is the same club.And this same club owes A&E money

    Ah but you’ve got to bear in mind the shape-shifting nature of the Institution operating out of Ibrox, whereby club and company are interchangeable depending on requirements.

    As a general rule, if the matter involves outstanding bills, tax, wages etc, or is in respect of due punishments and penalties – that is the company’s responsibility and the club is entirely absolved of any guilt.

    If the matter involves titles, trophies or kudos, then that is solely the responsibility of the club, despite the obvious impact that those aforementioned outstanding bills etc have on the club’s ability to win silverware and kudos.

    In effect, only bad things befall the company and only good things happen to the club, although there is some blurring of the edges whereby the entity can morph between club and company as circumstances dictate.

    Of course in order for this cherry-picking policy to work, the clumpany, its fans and the mainstream media have to sing from the same hymnsheet. I’m pretty sure I know which hymnsheet was in evidence at Ibrox on Saturday.  


  45. Re Garner (and his injury):

    He’ll have been assessed by the Club Doctor (and possibly X-rayed) in the medical room at Ibrox.

    Based on that, it’ll have been decided that he needed specialist (probably orthopaedic) attention, particularly if his injury is a shoulder dislocation, broken collar-bone, or other trauma to the scapula or sternum.

    It’s entirely possible that TRFC’s preferred private medical facility was contacted, but was unable to provide the required specialist at short notice on a Hogmanay Saturday afternoon.

    Hooray for the ‘safety-net’ of the NHS!


  46. paddy malarkeyJanuary 1, 2017 at 20:09
    ‘…And I note that some folk are appending an errant “e” to JC’s name -he’ll be in a high dudgeon on his return from Oz over that . ..’
    ______
    Moi? In high dudgeon? Never in life-especially when the mistake was mine ! When I first signed on to the WordPress thingy I  meant to use ‘John Clark’, but unaccountably [might there have been strong drink taken?] I wrote ‘Clarke’.
    I think it was changed to ‘Clark’  for SFM user name purposes, but if I email anyone as ‘John Clark’ I have to use Clarke if I ‘sign’ the email, in case there would be a discrepancy in between the name that appears as the email sender, and what appears as the signature.
    EssexBeancounter used to refer to me as John Clark(e).
    So, no dudgeon, high or low, from me.19


  48. At Ibrox on Saturday a minority of the home team fans did not sing the following songs:
    The Billy Boys
    Jimmy Saville he is one of your own
    Paedo
    Famine song
    All the above songs were heard during the game.  We all heard them and the SFA must have heard them.
    It is just allowed and that is that.
    They are vile songs and offensive and nothing gets addressed to the club or their fans.
    It is allowed and that is that.
    Scotland’s songs of shame.
    Dignity, traditional etc etc ….
    Sickening.
    How do you explain these songs to young children, the future fans of football.?


  49. JOHN CLARKJANUARY 2, 2017 at 14:18

    Cheers, John . Clear as mud now !


  50. zam1January 1, 2017 at 17:23
    ‘…It was John Clarke I should have directed the response to, Sorry.’
    _______________
    And your reponse was very encouraging, as being a re-statement of the truth.

    It is the very fact that the denial of the truth by the Football Authorities, the SMSM and, of course, the current Boards of TRFC and RIFC,  makes it necessary ( from my point of view, certainly) to keep hammering away at the fact that we, the Scottish Football public, know that we were lied to for many years by a cheating club, and by those who were responsible for the ‘good and proper governance’ of our sport.

    I quite readily admit that I personally did not ‘unearth’ any part of the truth. I am not a journalist. 
    But truth is not conditioned by whoever discovers it: it is there, once discovered, for all and sundry to examine,question, challenge.

    Whatever else SFM does , it tears to bits any and every statement or pronouncement made by  TRFC ,or on behalf of TRFC by any of their Directors or PR people, or any SMSM hack, or by the SPFL or SFA touching on TRFC-matters, looking to see what other lies and misinformation may be contained therein.Or not, perhaps.

    For all our interests in lots of things to do with football, we realise that there is the huge big elephant in the room, which makes it impossible to treat TRFC as if it were a normal part of the furniture , and pretend that all is well, and adopt an attitude of ‘let’s get on with it, eh?’

    Every liar in the world would wish to get away with their lies and deceit.

    Our Scottish Football liars are no different.

    Unless and until we nail them, we cannot truly believe in our game as being fairly, justly, and properly run.

    I shall continue to say as much until my dying day, if the bad guys aren’t nailed by that time.


  51. TONYJANUARY 2, 2017 at 14:42       1 Vote 
    i have no words for this apart from he needs help
    —–But,but we just sing a line in a song and it is everyone else’s fault.
    The finger of blame was pointed far and wide


  52. TONYJANUARY 2, 2017 at 14:42

    His fellow bears over the water will be really happy with him. He’s just highlighted, from a thorough to e, the problems highlighted by the Civil Rights movement and long before that. I think he’s getting cultural genocide and equality mixed up. 


  53. CLUSTER ONE
    starts quoting the UN,the writer needs medical assistance


  54. CLUSTER ONEJANUARY 2, 2017 at 11:37
    And that common goal should not be distracted by needles point scoring.That common goal should be about sharing information and finding truth that the SMSM or scottish football authorities don’t want the general man on the street to know about.The average man on the street who does not trust either just want’s to look into Blogs and find out what he is not being told.He does not care who has sources or who got the information first,All he cares about is he being told the truth and is the game he loves honestly governed
    ————————–
    JOHN CLARKJANUARY 2, 2017 at 15:02
    I quite readily admit that I personally did not ‘unearth’ any part of the truth. I am not a journalist. But truth is not conditioned by whoever discovers it: it is there, once discovered, for all and sundry to examine,question, challenge.
    Whatever else SFM does , it tears to bits any and every statement or pronouncement made by  TRFC ,or on behalf of TRFC by any of their Directors or PR people, or any SMSM hack, or by the SPFL or SFA touching on TRFC-matters, looking to see what other lies and misinformation may be contained therein.Or not, perhaps.
    ——————–
    John put it down in a way that i wanted to,and much better than i could have.
    and if that is backslapping i’m guilty as charged….
    Whatever else SFM does , it tears to bits any and every statement or pronouncement made by TRFC ,or on behalf of TRFC by any of their Directors or PR people, or any SMSM hack, or by the SPFL or SFA touching on TRFC-matters, looking to see what other lies and misinformation may be contained therein.Or not, perhaps.
    AND THAT IS ALL YOUR ORDINARY FAN IN THE STREET IS LOOKING FOR.


  55. Tony 
    so it’s not a case of “no one likes us we don’t care” but one of heavy duty paranoia to the point being truly bonkers. I distinctly remember the Indyref result as being a unionist victory but never let facts stand in the way of a self pitying rant. 
    That is an example of the debasement of language where words are attached to ideas much lower on the scale than they deserve -not being allowed to sing fascist songs revelling in, properly sectarian, violence is not to be the victim of genocide, such debasement would normally annoy me but the source of it is part of the twilight zone more to be pitied than scorned.


  56. BFBPUZZLED
    how many people are actually out there that are nodding their heads whilst reading it 01


  57. Cluster One

    I agree – although I hope that the SFM dissection of news is not only confined to Rangers matters. There may be an incommensurate mount of bilge written about RFC & TRFC in the press, but issues surrounding Celtic’s response to Res 12 have been addressed on SFM with a great deal of clarity; and a temperate analysis of matters related to things such as water supply and structural (as well as sporting) integrity has always been on hand.

    The term ‘news’ is also a misleading one sometimes. The water supply thing was certainly ‘broken’, but it was not in fact ‘news’ at all. I think we learned from SFM responses to that story that misinformation is often a two-way street, and that we have to treat the traffic in both directions with the same approach to road safety.

    Much of the ‘news’ concerning what is happening in Scottish football has centred around what has emerged from analyses on this site (and others). It is no longer news to outline what has happened over the past few years – our role is to provide a platform to ensure it stays current.

    Sadly though, it becomes news to those who would discredit us when the lily is gilded a tad too much or a kite has been flown on a wind free day. On the odd occasion we have been privy to breaking news, we have only ever published it if we had a secondary source of the information. Our news will never be a wish list. 

    Tris and I have always seen the main role of SFM as being exactly what it says on the masthead, to ‘monitor’ what is going on. We don’t claim exclusivity on that score, but we do boast expertise from within our community in many areas where the press have none, and we can draw sensible conclusions about what the real story is.

    As John Clark says, when we find the truth, it becomes our role to repeat it as relentlessly as the lies are by the press, the authorities and the clubs themselves.

    Some may find that uninspiring, but I am not of that opinion. If others want to criticise SFM on other forums, I have no problem with that. However we won’t be drawn into a spat. If the blogs become the story, then I think we will have failed in our mission – we will certainly have shifted focus in the wrong direction.

    Our numbers are down to something less than half of what they were at the height of the RFC/TRFC crisis in 2013. In SFM terms historically, having a Rangers to laugh at has meant big numbers. Since things have quietened down over the last year or so, some of our readership has disappeared.

    Our attitude is that despite the inactivity of that circus, we have retained half our readership, and consequently have maintained something that is absolutely unique in football terms – a cross partisan forum where people can post without fear of invective or ridicule. A glass half full of folk to whom finding solutions for the good of the game matters more than enjoying the discomfort of others – no matter their behaviour. 

    Only yesterday, a poster moderated his own post because he felt it was too close to an ad hominem attack on another. That kind of self awareness and self-censorship is something we should all be proud of. It leads to an ability to speak truths – even unpleasant ones – to each other without it leading inevitably to offence being taken.

    For a lot of people that is not a particularly important aspect, but I think most of us here who are regular readers and contributors ‘get it’. 

    As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water. Maybe we can’t always make it drink, but we will have a damn good try.


  58. A glass half full of folk to whom finding solutions for the good of the game matters more than enjoying the discomfort of others – no matter their behaviour.
    Why i love SFM
    —————-
    If the blogs become the story, then I think we will have failed in our mission….I Agree


  59. A I watched a re run of Saturdays Glasgow Derby I noticed something very strange. Before the corner that led to Dembeles goal Celtic were on a breakaway but Sinclair stood on the ball and slowed things up allowing covering players into position. As the breakaway original developed with a throughball to Sinclair there is someone on the stand side line holding a hand up for offside, not the official but a player or Club official I cannot tell. Maybe someone here could help me out. I didn’t think players/officials were allowed near the pitch during play. Curious.


  60. John Clark
    January 2, 2017 at 15:02
     
    There isn’t a redundant word in that John
     ————————————————–
    Big Pink
    January 2, 2017 at 17:08
    As John Clark says, when we find the truth, it becomes our role to repeat it as relentlessly as the lies are by the press, the authorities and the clubs themselves.
     04


  61. Carfins FinestJanuary 2, 2017 at 17:36
    _____________________________________
    Do you have a link to the Match with this?


  63. Sorry,mods, I thought it would just be the address that was displayed .


  64. paddy malarkeyJanuary 2, 2017 at 19:34 
    JEAN7BRODIEJANUARY 2, 2017 at 19:20
    At 8.20
    Thanks Paddy. Jean. Do you see what I mean. Can you identify the individual?


  65. Carfins FinestJanuary 2, 2017 at 20:06
    ___________________________________________
    Yes obvious CF. Weird!! Will consult my sons as they are experts12 Thanks Paddy.


  66. Carfins FinestJanuary 2, 2017 at 17:36
    ________________________________________________
    Has this been asked on Twitter?


  67. jean7brodieJanuary 2, 2017 at 20:28
    Carfins FinestJanuary 2, 2017 at 17:36________________________________________________Has this been asked on Twitter?
    ________________________
    Jean. I don’t have the technical Artistry to get the clip onto Twitter. Can you help? Great if you could.


  68. Carfins FinestJanuary 2, 2017 at 20:31
    __________________________________
    Will try now.


  69. Have tried to attach Paddy’s video on Twitter but I am to stupid to do it, can anyone help?


  70. From the Herald online today. 
    “Rangers remain a curiosity of a club, burdened by the hopes and expectations of the pre-liquidation era ”
    New Year. Same old nonsense.


  71. Ex-Ludo: i think you are being a bit harsh. I read that article first thing and was pleasantly surprised by what was written…

    Firstly the article starts off with “THERE is no Old Firm any more. Not in a competitive sense at least” something we Celtic fans have been saying for a good few years now.

    The quote you take doesn’t imply they are the same club, more that fans expectations should have changed post-liquidation (from the pre-liquidation expectations)as their whole reality had changed. This to me de facto acknowledges the changes brought about by liquidating.

    The tenor of the argument is that this NewGers cannot be judged by the same criteria as OldGers were, that ship has sailed…


  72. Jimbo, put the glass down and walk away backwards until you hit the door or a wall or a person or a domestic animal . Or a piece of furniture . Anything else in your hoose shouldnae really be there, unless by choice . To the tune of “Guantanamera”, sing “One team in Glasgow”. It’ll make you chill and accept the natural order, which is QPFC,PTFC,CFC,and TRFC .For your information, I felt the same way about Denis McQuade . 
    Plus there’s tons, hunners even, of other games in the lower leagues and Juniors and Amateurs who would kiss yer haund for your money and the chance of having a group fotie of the crowd .
     


  74. TONY
    JANUARY 2, 2017 at 15:28 
    CLUSTER ONE
    starts quoting the UN,the writer needs medical assistance
    ==============
    Can’t bite my tongue any longer!

    Without being specific, I believe I have more first hand knowledge than most Bampots re: The UN.

    Reading that article from VB was initially laughable, but then offensive.

    The UN is a political organisation led mostly by the USA, Russia and China.
    It tries to help people around the world but can only do what the member countries want done.  The veto of the permanent members of the Security Council can lead to  a frustrating impasse e.g. the continuing atrocities in Syria.

    The UN Secretary General does not have the authority to make unilateral decisions.

    To somehow equate the UN Charter to the fallout from the financial shambles at Ibrox is simply pathetic.

    And as far as I am aware, the liquidation of Rangers has just not registered in the General Assembly…  01


  75. Seen this pash ?
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4082804/Ibrox-offers-no-scope-expansion-Rangers-chairman-Dave-King-stop-Celtic-limited-growth.html
    So winning the second tier by 11 points is strolling it ? We might not win much (anythiing) but we can read, and in the article it states that the league might be won by “beating the 29-point margin enjoyed over Motherwell in 2014” . So, 11 points is a stroll,15 points a dawdle, 20 points a skoosh ,30 points would be what ? 
    Out of curiosity, does anybody know how much money RFC made from their last sojourn in European competition ?

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