A Blog for Scottish Football Monitor by Stuart Cosgrove
At the height of summer of discontent I was asked to contribute to a BBC radio show with Jim Traynor and Jim Spence. ‘Armageddon’ had just been pronounced and if the media were to be believed Scotland was about to freeze over in a new ice-age: only a cold darkness lay ahead.
To get the radio-show off to a healthy and pretentious start I began by saying that Scottish football was experiencing an “epistemological break”. It was an in-joke with Jim Spence, who I have known since we were both teenage ‘suedeheads.’ I was a mouthy young St Johnstone fan and Jim was an Arabian sand-dancer. But even in those distant days, we shared a mutual distrust of the ‘old firm’ and in our separate ways wanted a better future for our clubs. We both grew up to become products of the fanzine era, Jim as a writer for Dundee United’s ‘The Final Hurdle’ and me as a staff writer for the NME. Without ever having to say it, we had both engaged in a guerrilla-war against what Aberdeen’s Willie Miller once characterised as “West Coast Bias”.
The term ‘epistemological break’ was shamelessly borrowed from French Marxist philosophy. It means a fundamental change in the way we construct and receive knowledge and although I used it on air as a wind-up to test Spencey’s significantly less-reliable Dundee schooling, deep down I meant it.
Social Media has proved to be one of the greatest disruptions in the history of the football supporter – greater than the brake clubs of the 19th century, the football specials on the 1970s; or the fanzine movement of the post-punk era. The pace of change in the way we send, receive and interrogate information has been so dynamic that it has wrong-footed administrators, asset strippers and sports journalists, alike. No matter who you support we are living through media history.
2012 had just witnessed an unprecedented summer of sport. The Olympics provided a snapshot of how sudden and pervasive the shift to social media has become. Over 40% of UK adults claim to have posted comments on websites, blogs or social networking about the Olympics and in younger age-groups that figure tips conclusively to a majority – 61% of 16-24’s posted Olympic comments. Think about that figure for a moment. Well over half of the young people in the UK are now participants in social media and pass comment on sport. The genie is out of the bottle and it will never be forced back. That is the main reason that Armageddon never happened: we no longer live in an age where the media can guarantee our compliance.
On the first day of the 2012-13-season, Rangers were in the deep throes of administration and facing certain liquidation. With no accounts to meet the criteria for SPL membership, one among a body of rules which the old Rangers had themselves been an architect of, the new Rangers could not be granted entry without a wholesale abandonment of the rules. It was not to be.
St Johnstone launched their new season at Tynecastle so I travelled with misplaced hope. We were soundly beaten 2-0 and both Hearts goals were entirely merited. On the day, I did a quick if unscientific survey of two supporters’ buses – the Barossa Saints Club, a more traditional lads-bus and the ‘208 Ladies’ a predominantly female and family-friendly bus. On both buses, over 75% of fans had mobile phones with 3G internet access and the majority of them posted updates or pictures before, during or after the match. They mostly posted via micro-blogging sites such as Facebook or Twitter, many commenting on the game, their day-out and the surroundings. Most were speaking to friends or rival fans. Some were publishing pictures and updating forums or blogs. And when he second a decisive goal went in some were undoubtedly taking stick from Gort, Webby DFC and DeeForLife, the pseudonyms of prominent Dundee fans, who as the newly promoted ‘Club 12’ were suddenly and very temporarily above St Johnstone in the SPL.
By my rough calculations, well over half the St Johnstone support was web-connected. I have no reason to think the Hearts supporters were any different. This small experiment reflects an unprecedented shift in the balance of communication in Scottish football and in the truest sense it is an ‘epistemological break’ with past forms of spectatorship. Social media has been widely misrepresented by old-style radio ‘phone-ins’ and by journalism’s ancien regime. The presumption is that people who are connected to the web are at home, in dingy rooms where they foam at the mouth frustrated by loneliness and mental illness. The term ‘internet bampots’ (coined by Hugh Keevins) and ‘keyboard warriors’ (Gordon Strachan) speaks to a world that is fearful of the web, irked by alternative opinions, and the threat that the new media poses to the traditional exchange of knowledge.
It further assumes that opinion from social networks is naïve, ill-informed, or unreasonable. Whilst some of this may be true, mostly it is not. No one would dispute that there are small enclaves of truly despicable people using social networks and comment sites, but they are overwhelmingly outnumbered by the multitude of fans who simply want to talk about their team and share their dreams and memories.
Social media is porous. By that I mean it has cracks, lacunae and fissures. This inevitably means that information leaks out. It can be shared, released and in some cases becomes so energetic it becomes a virus. It is no longer possible to ‘keep secrets’, to withhold information and to allow indiscretions to pass unnoticed. Newspapers have been caught in a whirlwind of change where views can be instantly challenged, authority quickly questioned and pronouncements easily disproved. Many papers – almost all in decline – have been forced to close down their comments forums. Undoubtedly some of that is due to breaches of the rules, the cost of moderation, and the rise in awareness of hate crimes. But another significant factor is that ordinary fans were consistently challenging the opinions and ‘facts’ that newspapers published.
Talking down to fans no longer works and we now have evidence – Armageddon did not happen. The beast that was supposed to devour us all was a toothless fantasy. In the more abrasive language of the terraces – Armageddon shat-it and didn’t turn up.
In one respect the myth of Armageddon was an entirely predictable one. Tabloid newspapers make money from scaring people – health scares, prisoners on the run, fear of terrorism, anxiety about young people, and most recently ‘fear’ of Scottish independence is their stock in trade. Almost every major subject is raised as a spectre to be fearful of. Most newspapers were desperate to ‘save Rangers’ since they themselves feared the consequences of losing even more readership. It was easier to argue that a hideous financial catastrophe would befall Scottish football unless Rangers were fast-tracked back into the SPL. Newspapers found common cause with frightened administrators who could not imagine a world without Rangers, either.
So we were invited to endorse one of the greatest circumlocutions of all time – unless you save a club that has crashed leaving millions of pounds of debt, the game is financially doomed. You would struggle to encounter this bizarre logic in any other walk of life. Unless Rick Astley brings out a new album music will die. That is what they once argued and many still do. That is how desperately illogical the leadership in Scottish football had become.
Armageddon was a tissue of inaccuracies from the outset. It tried to script a disaster-movie of chaotic failure and financial disaster and at the very moment when senior administrators should have been fighting for the livelihood of the league, they were briefing against their own business.
Armageddon was a big inarticulate beast but it faced a mightier opponent – facts. One by one the clubs published their annual accounts. Although this was against the backdrop of a double-dip recession and fiercely difficult economic circumstances it was not all doom and gloom. The arrival of Club 12 (Dundee) meant higher crowds and the potential for increased income at Aberdeen, Dundee United and St Johnstone. To this day, this simple fact remains unfathomable to many people in the Glasgow-dominated media. The arrival of Ross County meant an exciting new top-tier local derby for Inverness Caley Thistle and a breath of fresh air for the SPL. St Johnstone insisted on the first ever SPL meeting outside Glasgow to reflect the new northern and eastern geo-politics of the Scottish game.
European football meant new income streams for Motherwell. Of course times were tight, football is never free from the ravages of the economy and some clubs predictably showed trading losses. But the underlying reasons were always idiosyncratic and inconsistent never consistent across the board. Inverness had an unprecedented spate of injuries and over-shot their budgets for healthcare and so published a loss £378,000.
Meanwhile Dundee United published healthy accounts having sold David Goodwillie to Blackburn. Celtic reached the Champion’s League group stages with all the new wealth it will bequeath. St Johnstone – led by the ultra-cautious Brown family – had already cut the cost of their squad, bidding farewell to the most expensive players Francisco Sandaza and Lee Croft. The club also benefited from compensation for their departed manager, Derek McInnes and player-coach, Jody Morris. Paradoxically, Bristol City had proven to be more important to the club’s income than Rangers. Again this was not part of the script and proved unfathomable (or more accurately irrelevant) to most in the Glasgow media.
Hearts failed to pay players on time due to serious restraints on squad costs and internal debt. They were duly punished for their repeated misdemeanours. Motherwell and St Mirren despite the economic challenges were navigating different concepts of fan ownership. By November most clubs – with the exception of Celtic – were showing increased SPL attendance on the previous season. Far from the scorched earth failure that we were told was inevitable what has emerged is a more complex eco-system of financial management, in which local dynamics and a more mature cost-efficient reality was being put in place.
It may well be that Armageddon was the last desperate caricature of a form of media that was already in terminal decline. Flash back to 1967 when Scottish football had a so-called ‘golden age’. There was European success, we tamed England at Wembley and names like Law and Baxter brightened dark nights. Back then access to knowledge was a very narrow funnel. Only a small cadre of privileged journalists had access to the managers and players, and so fans waited dutifully for the Daily Record to arrive at their door to tell them what was happening. That system of ‘elite access to knowledge’ was in its last decadent throes nearly thirty years later, when David Murray would dispense wisdom to his favoured journalists. We now know they drank fine wine and ate succulent lamb in Jersey and the most loyal attended Murray’s 50th birthday party at Gleneagles. One journalist was so proud of his invite he danced round the editorial office mocking those who had not been invited. This was the early height of the Rangers EBT era but it is now clear that difficult questions went unasked by either journalists or by football administrators.
Although it may not suit the narrative of this particular blog my first realisation that David Murray’s empire was living on leveraged debt was from a small cadre of Rangers fans. It was around the early years of the Rangers Supporter’s Trust (RST) and they were determined to shake more democracy from the Ibrox boardroom. Whilst real fans of the club argued from the outside, the press took Murray at his loquacious word. He was in many respects their benefactor, their visionary – their moonbeam.
By the 1990s onwards, football journalism had ritualised and festered around the inner sanctums at Ibrox. This was an era where relevance meant being invited to a ‘presser’ at Murray Park, having Ally’s mobile or playing golf with ‘Juke Box,’ ‘Durranty’ or ‘Smudger’. Many journalists, showing a compliant lack of self-awareness, would use these nicknames as if conveyed closeness, familiarity or friendship. It is desperately sad that careers have been built on such paltry notions of access and such demeaning obsequiousness.
Around this period I had become a freelance radio-presenter and was presenting Off the Ball with my friend Tam Cowan, a Motherwell fan. We both wanted to fashion a show which saw football not trough its familiar narratives, but through the lens of the ‘diddy’ teams, a term so demeaning that we tried to reclaim it. Refusing to peddle the inevitability of ‘old firm’ power we sensed that journalistic compliance at Ibrox was now so ingrained that it was ripe for satirising. This was the main reason that Off the Ball branded itself as ‘petty and ill-informed.’ It was a self-mocking antidote to those journalists that could ‘exclusively reveal’ breaking stories from ‘impeccable sources,’ which usually meant they had heard it on the golf-course, from Walter, a man who needed no surname.
Many fans are astonished when I tell them how the journalism of this era actually functioned. On Champions League nights, journalists from opposing papers gathered together to agree what to write. Circulation was in decline, money was tight, agency copy was on the increase and foreign trips were under-scrutiny. No one dared miss the ‘big story’. So sports journalists who commonly boasted about their toughness and who ‘feared no one’ were often so fearful of returning home having missed an angle, that they agreed by consensus to run with variations of the same story. Celtic fans may wish to recoil at the image – but journalists would go into a ‘huddle’ at the end of a press-conference to agree the favoured line.
So the summer of 2012 witnessed an ‘epistemological break’ in how knowledge and information was exchanged. But let me go further and taunt Jim Spence one more time. It was the summer we also witnessed an ‘amygdala-crisis’ exposing the way the media works in Scotland. Amygdala is the nuclei in the brain that manages our tolerance for risk and is the key that often unlocks creative thinking. Many people in relatively high places in the media – a creative industry – demonstrated that they could not conceive of change, nor could they imagine what football would look like if Rangers were not playing in the SPL. They not only resisted change but lacked the imagination to think beyond it. A common language began to emerge that tried to ward off risk and an almost a childlike fear of the dark. ‘Scottish football needs a strong Rangers,’ ‘But there will no competition’; ‘other clubs will suffer’; ‘Draw a line in the sand’; ‘It was one man – Craig Whyte’, ‘They’ve been punished enough’ and of course, the daddy of them all – ‘Armageddon.’
The biggest single barrier to change was the lingering and outmoded notion that Rangers subsidised Scottish football. As a supporter of a club that had spent seven economically stable years in a league that Rangers have never played in made me deeply suspicious and I was in the words of the we-forums ‘seething’ that St Johnstone were portrayed as somehow ‘dependent’ on a club that was already fatefully insolvent. Because so little is known about the experience of the fans of smaller clubs, they are often misrepresented. For seven years my friends and I, travelled home and away in the First Division, often narrowly missing out on promotion as rival clubs like Gretna, Dundee and Livingston all used money they did not have to ‘buy’ success. It remains an incontrovertible fact that St Johnstone FC has been among the most consistent victims of fiscal misdemeanour in Scottish football. That is the irreducible issue. Several clubs have very real reasons to loathe financial mismanagement, rogue-trading and those that gain unfair advantage on the back of unserviceable debt.
Social media has allowed these smaller incremental versions of history to be told when the established media had no interest in telling them. Blogs can dig deeper than the back pages ever can and fans are now more likely to meet on Facebook than on a supporter’s bus. Many players now bypass the press completely and tweet directly with fans. Rio Ferdinand’s recent attack on racism in English football has been conducted entirely via social media, over the heads of the press. In the Rangers Tax Case context, restricted documents are regularly shared online, where they can be analysed and torn apart. Those with specialist skills such as insolvency, tax expertise or accountancy can lend their skills to a web forum and can therefore dispute official versions of events.
Not all social media is good. Open-access has meant a disproportionate rise in victim culture. The ‘easily-offended’ prowl every corner of the web desperate to find a morsel that will upset them but that is a small price to pay for greater transparency and even the most ardent bore is no excuse for limiting the free exchange of information.
We have witnessed a summer of seismic change. A discredited era that largely relied on ‘elite access to knowledge’ has all but passed away and information, however complex or seemingly unpalatable, can no longer be withheld from fans. The days of being ‘dooped’ are over.
It has been a privilege to participate in the summer of discontent and I yearn for even greater change to come. Bring it on.
Stuart Cosgrove
Stuart Cosgrove is a St Johnstone fan. He was previously Media Editor of the NME and is now Director of Creative Diversity at Channel 4, where he recently managed coverage of the Paralympics, London 2012. At the weekend he presents the BBC Scotland football show ‘Off the Ball’ with Tam Cowan. He writes here in a personal capacity.
T’Sevconian Rangers beaten by the bottom team in Scotland, and 125-year-old Celtic victors over the Catalonian Diddymen all within a few short weeks of each other, with the Bhoys’ winner scored by an 18-year-old Scot.
It’s not real, is it?
I love you all.
‘Watched the game with my oldest and dearest friend tonight.. I’m Celtic, he’s Rangers (no comment on old or new required) We watched the game, drank a few drams and loved the football.. Great night, I love that man and he loves me… we both love football. Both happy’
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Apart from the result for Scotland tonight i think the above post is one of the most uplifting I have read in this epoch. This is what it is all about. Their are many damn good Old rangers supporters who have been swept away in this corrupt tsunami,. lets not forget them.
BTW wasn’t that something else – the Sky coverage of the best football team in the World versus the best – looking team in the World.
Delusional? Yes. But it’s to be expected, coming from the Zombiedome…
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/jardine-celtic-are-celebrating-125-years-they-dont-come-near-what-weve-done-in-140-x.19361813
It’s hard to tell who is trying hardest to convince themselves in that article, Jardine or Wilson. Fuds both, but Jardine it is to be expected of. Wilson? Charlie boy must have a big birthday party or family wedding coming up. Look out your dancing shoes, Dick, you’re on the list.
I would like to add my congratulations to Celtic for a truly memorable performance and to the fans for making it such a fantastic spectacle. I don’t think I have felt as proud or missed being so far away as much as I did when I heard the noise and saw the card display. Hopefully the print will be available from all good retail outlets shortly.
1st time poster so go easy.
Firstly, what a night for football last night, im sure it will live long in the memory.
RE the Las Vegas Sands connection, IIRC, this was the group who were partners in the infamous ‘Super Casino’ project.
As there was only to be one in the UK, they were involved in a number of other projects, such as a very similar proposal with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
Dear Mr Jardine
When people say the word Barcelona in the divided city of Glasgow 2 images come to mind
there is last night and there is 1972 only 1972 have images of riot police
When people talk about Manchester 2 images come to mind , one of them was a screamer of a goal from Nakamura in the Champions League and the other was those pesky riot police again
When people mention Lisbon you can be sure 50% of the city have their fingers in their ears
When administration is mentioned I have images of Fergus McCann and Craig Whyte
You are correct , Celtic havent come near to achieving what Rfc* have done
but trust me it is nothing to be proud of
timtim 07:16
Fantastically put- exactly what I thought when I read it.
Never read such servitude as that from Wilson.
timtim @ 07:16
🙂 well said 🙂
Well done Celtic. Brilliant!
Well done to the non Celtic supporting posters on here for their congratulatory messages.
On other matters. Has anyone any idea why Celtic’s mathc against Saint Johnstone is scheduled for Sunday, rather than Saturday. Is it because of Saturday’s game at Ibrox?
Also, I’d just like to say that whilst Hearts and Celtic have had their fair share of run ins over the years, I, as Celtic supporter, would like to say that HMFC are a club worth saving and I only hope it’s not too late in the day. Are there any supporter initiatives that could result in a fans takeover?
Oh. One final thing. Tony Watt should be in the senior Scotland now, not later. I know he’s only young and had a handful of appearances, but he is the real deal. A strong athletic good technical player with an eye for goal.
easyJambo says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 23:13
4 1 Rate This
Lord Wobbly says: Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 23:01
Hey EJ. Good to see you back. Looking forward to your input on the Hearts situation. I just wish it wasn’t necessary. I hope things work out.
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I think I’m probably in the minority with the view that it would be better for Hearts to bite the bullet of Administration (preferably) sooner rather than later, than suffer a lingering death lurching from one crisis to the next …
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What a strange 24 hours. A magnificent shot in the arm for Scotland under the floodlit skies of the East End and sadness at the plight of Hearts fans. Sympathy from me allyjambo and to the rest of your support.
I cannot get my head around a £4.2m wage bill. But there’s a lot that doesn’t make sense to me in modern football, least of all listening to Chick Young with his I-told-you-it-was-Armageddon nonsense. Looks to me that stevensanph’s previous blog with its facts and figures should be a must-read for football admins. Living within your means has never gone out of vogue it’s just been shunned by the few foolish nouveau chairmen who play Monopoly with real people’s lives and loves.
Without the Green Brigade, Celtic Park would be just another football stadium…
http://harryhood67.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/green-brigade-display-cest-magnifique/
I fear there is a lot of pain coming for Hearts fans.
As a St.Mirren fan it reminds me that we lost our beloved Love street ground due to debt and now play in a functional, 8023 capacity ground, which does not have the best atmosphere.
There will have to be a lot of ‘ cloth cutting ‘ to come for many clubs.
Fr White had informed us on Tuesday evening, that he had been advised by his boss, that we would get a result, Thankyou for the service and the wee betting tip. What a magnificent two nights in the East End of Glasgow, never to be forgotten.
As it would be churlish in the extreme to remain silent, I have to say, for the first time since 1967, “Well done Celtic!”
The Hearts situation is very unfortunate but hardly unpredictable. As for there being a connection to the absence of the now-deceased basket-case FC in the SPL – that’s just plain stupid. If Rangers still existed and were still playing in the SPL they could only have played Hearts once so far this season, so the extra bums on seats and the TV money would hardly compensate for the kind of bill the taxman has just slapped on the table. This issue has been brewing for years and if there is a Rangers connection it is because Hearts were trying in vain to compete with a team engaged in serial cheating over a decade or perhaps even longer.
Hearts owe the taxman £1.75m. TRFC owe Hearts £1.1m. If this is correct, raising the difference should be not too difficult.
willmacufree says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 08:59
TRFC owe Hearts £1.1m.
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I’d like to know the bank that would advance you a business loan on the strength of that being paid 😀
raycharlez says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 01:35
But while tonight’s improbable result will send shockwaves around Europe, I will be astonished to the nth degree if the SFA officially classify Rangers as a new club without history.
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Aye, so will I. “Officially”, however, they already have classified them as a new club – by their positioning in the Cup rounds.
I have no doubt that the old club’s history and so on will feature in any TRFC info on websites and so on. But then there are precedents (Honved, Fiorentina) as I’ve said before.
Well done Celtic, by the way. A resounding result. As for Watt getting a game for Scotland, fit aboot Ryan Fraser? 😉
apologies if posted before.
sandy jardine trying to pool the wool over his and everybody else’s eyes.
and craig swan – got a severe case of
… the emperors new clothes !!!
still, ignorance is bliss.
Traynor in the DR this morning speaking utter tripe alongside the predicted giant picture of dominoes with TRFC on the first one, HMFC on the second and question marks on the next ones.
How in the name of Dog is this ignorant old soak allowed to be a journalist? Who is his boss? He must be an even greater idiot.
oops
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sandy-jardine-i-may-be-biased-but-celtic-will-never-1423890
For watchers of MHG (10.6% owned by CW).
http://tinyurl.com/cr9boqx
______________________
Quote
Directors’ Declarations
Pursuant to Rule 17 of the AIM Rules for Companies (the “AIM Rules”), the following directors’ disclosures fall to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules:
James Holmes was a director of Hollywood Media Services plc at the time it was placed into creditors voluntary liquidation on 6 April 2010.
Martin Eberhardt was a director of the following companies, which were all part of the same group, at the time they were placed into creditors voluntary liquidation:
Company Date of liquidation
Hollywood Media Services plc 06/04/2010
Hollywood Catering Services Ltd 21/10/2010
The Casting Suite Ltd 10/02/2010
The Production Switchboard Ltd 19/08/2010
In addition, Mr Eberhardt resigned as a director of SCL(2002) Limited on 8 January 2004, which entered into creditors voluntary liquidation on 22 December 2004. He also resigned as a director of Match Day Media Limited in May 2009, which was placed into compulsory liquidation on 13 January 2010.
Good discussion on Radio Scotland right now about Hearts & football finance … streaming online.
Jardine quote regarding Celtic: “… they don’t come anywhere near what we’ve done in 140 years when you look back through our history.”
Seriously … can a neutral observer explain to me what evidence there is to back up Mr Jardine’s claim here? What is it that RFC did in their book-ended 140 years that is so far ahead of what Celtic have achieved in their 125 (and counting)?
I would have a little more respect for Shandy Garden if he had come out this morning to talk about the terrible news from HMFC where he was assistant manager and a much respected player for the Jam Tarts.
I would also prefer to remember him as such too because what I have seen in the last 12 months does not fit in with the consumate professional I thought I was seeing at the time…….
Shame how people can destroy the image you had of them………..
While Celtic celebrated their 125th birthday with a win over the world champions Barcelona, they are planning a part against Stirling Albion in a revenge match having been humped by them earlier in the season……..
Yes Shandy – we are all so jealous!
I watched the match (abroad) with another Celtic fan, a Rangers fan and a gentleman from Barcelona.
At one point, my Rangers mate poked fun at Neil Lennon’s off the radar valuation of Victor Wanyama (£25 million.) I was about to indulge in some whataboutery and quote some other figures – 500 million world wide fan base? Income streams of 100 to 200 million pounds?, when Wanyama stuck the ball in the poke and saved me the bother.
I also loved Wanyama’s parliamoglesga, “It was no easy!”
Plaudits have to go to Neil Lennon. His tactics of forcing Barca wide as much as possible played to Celtic’s height advantage.
And the crowd didn’t do too badly either.
Thoughts with the Jambos, I hope they get through this.
angus1983 says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 09:30
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Jardine quote regarding Celtic: “… they don’t come anywhere near what we’ve done in 140 years when you look back through our history.”
Seriously … can a neutral observer explain to me what evidence there is to back up Mr Jardine’s claim here? What is it that RFC did in their book-ended 140 years that is so far ahead of what Celtic have achieved in their 125 (and counting)?
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Who celebrates 140 years of anything? It’s a rather sad effort to keep up spirits and have a wee dig at Celtic as the new club (irony, eh?). Unfortunately for Green and Jardine Celtic spoiled the party. You’d wonder if Jack’s hand is in this. If so, he’s re-confirming that he’s lost it.
angus1983 says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 09:18
Traynor in the DR this morning speaking utter tripe alongside the predicted giant picture of dominoes with TRFC on the first one, HMFC on the second and question marks on the next ones. How in the name of Dog is this ignorant old soak allowed to be a journalist? Who is his boss? He must be an even greater idiot.
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His boss is Alan Rennie the Record Editor known scornfully known as ‘Space Cadet’ and he really is a dingbat. If you think CW has swivel-eyes then you ain’t seen nothing till you’ve seen Rennie. None of his staff have an ounce of respect for him or his judgement and even his sycophantic coterie of asp lickers are beginning to worry about their jobs.
He used to be editor at the Sunday Mail and its circulation is going down the pan and the Record is in free-fall as people refuse to buy the poor quality biased reporting on offer.
Just going back to Stuart’s original article for a moment –
“We now know they drank fine wine and ate succulent lamb in Jersey and the most loyal attended Murray’s 50th birthday party at Gleneagles. One journalist was so proud of his invite he danced round the editorial office mocking those who had not been invited.”
This has to be the inscription on the tombstone of Scottish sport main stream journalism.
Go on Stuart… you have to let us know who it was. If it wasn’t Jabba I’ll donate a fiver to the TSFM fund!
easyJambo says:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 23:13
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I was wondering is it time to think the unthinkable and leave Tynecastle with Mad Vlad to develop as long as he takes responsibility for any outstanding tax?
What makes a club ‘immortal’ is not the ground it plays in but those who continue to support it. It is the emotional attachment that supporters have to their “home” that gives the likes of Romanov and Green their hold over the support.
I know using Murrayfield has been suggested but that takes money out of football. How about ground sharing with Hibernian? That would reduce costs of both clubs and keep money in the game.
I have no idea of the potential income from developing Tyncastle, but see nearbye 3 bedroom flats fetch £850pcm rental. Lets say £1000 for a modern flat near the centre of Edinburgh. Any surveyors/agents out there any idea of development cost and long term earning potential if Tynecastle were sold?
Such a move, whilst heart wrenching (no pun intended) would allow the Hearts support to be involved in the future of a viable football business rather than be dragged through what might happen anyway against their wishes.
Desperate time call for desperate measures. Any appetite to gothis way do you think?
angus1983 says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 09:30
3 0 Rate This
Jardine quote regarding Celtic: “… they don’t come anywhere near what we’ve done in 140 years when you look back through our history.”
Seriously … can a neutral observer explain to me what evidence there is to back up Mr Jardine’s claim here? What is it that RFC did in their book-ended 140 years that is so far ahead of what Celtic have achieved in their 125 (and counting)?
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Angus, SJ is an irrelevance. He’s discredited himself quite thoroughly during the past months by appealing to what’s commonly called the ‘orc’ mentality. He’s a sad character, best ignored.
My thoughts are with Hearts today. I’d like to hear what Hearts fans here believe is the way forward. Should Vlad sell the ground, pay the debts and ensure a seriously slimmed-down club survives in some form? Via a ground-share perhaps? Are Hearts fans being blackmailed by their owner?
Regardless of whether or not Green’s 2012 football project should be in Div 3 (I believe they should not have been given a free ticket to play there), fact is, Div 3 is the ultimate stramash for SPL teams fallen from grace and offers up not a little football melodrama. If Hearts end up there it won’t be the end of the world.
A quote from Mr Jardine’s article.
“Our anniversary should have been the last week in May but that’s when the club was facing liquidation so celebrations went on the back burner.”
Yes Sandy, you waited until the club was actually in liquidation before celebrating it’s 140 years (and not counting any more) history.
Another wee quote
“We’ve started on a journey of rebuilding and hopefully the club can be back on its feet and where we were as the leading force in Scottish football.
So, I take it you intend cheating again, Sandy. That’s what made you what you were. Spending money you didn’t have, and when that ran out stealing from the country.
How worried are you about your other club btw, you know, Hearts.
I’m afraid it’s people like you who are the problem. Rangers will never get better as a business or as an organisation unless people like you actually face reality.
Fantastic game at Celtic Park last night. The result, the atmosphere and the display organised by the GB are already being lauded throughout the football world and are a real shot in the arm for the tarnished image of Scottish football. No doubt our own parochial and hopelessly biased media will too soon tire of these well-earned plaudits and turn their narrow focus once more to their predictions of impending doom.
Welcome back stunney! You’ve been missed!
It will be interesting to see if Jardine (Irvine?) claims next year that Celtic’s 126 year history is no where near that of Rangers(?) achievements in what – 141 years or 1 year?
Taking this seriously for a minute:-
1. Celtic will eventually overtake the League Cup/League hauls of the now liquidated Glasgow
Rangers (more quickly than otherwise if titles are stripped).
2. Celtic (and I feel most fans of other Scottish clubs would agree) are held in greater esteem
throughout football globally.
3. IMHO in one game alone – Lisbon 1967 – Jardine’s caustic/sour grapes comments have
already been ‘blown out of the water’.
and finally …
He can stuff his congratulations!
From the Spanish Press
Mundo Deportivo say:
‘Braveheart’ Against Barca
Barca was the guest of honour at the birthday party of Celtic, born on November 6, 1887, 125 years and one day before the third visit of Barca in Champions League at Celtic Park. It is hard to imagine that this team, with the support of the fans, lose games in this old and beloved stadium.
The Scottish public, always beside his team unconditionally, learned to behave well with exquisite courtesy from the first minute. Even before the start when the players entered the pitch they heard the applause of the audience that almost filled the stands of Celtic Park.
The atmosphere was special: 60,000 plastic sheets green and white formed a mosaic with the club badge behind the goals and the legend “125 CELTIC” on the sides, with a brutal screaming that covered the anthem of the Champions League. They did not stop jumping, singing and shouting. This people pushes their team. And there is a legend: the stadium literally shakes.
bect67 says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 10:29
1/ Agreed
2/ As long as you are sure is it Ok if us “most fans of other scottish clubs” keep our thoughts to ourselves.
3/ Agreed
smugas says @ 10.37:-
Re point 2.
Of course it is – with the lunatic fringe of the former Govan team around – it’s probably safer.
But I think I’m right!
tomtomaswell @ 0910 wants to know the bank that would advance you a business loan on the strength of the TRFC £1.1m debt being paid.
Good point. But isn’t DM’s buddy Masterton (?) very sympathetic to footballing loan applications? Although now retired himself he could probably point HoM in the right direction.
Watt a great night it was, I bet even Johnny Adair was proudly wearing his Celtic shirt!
Just read jabbas column in the DR 🙁
Is this man serious ?Yes i agree no Hearts would be a great loss to Scottish football and especially Hibs 🙁
But saying Hearts plight has anything What so ever to do with his beloved rangers not being in the SPL is more than a stretch of the imagination Its the ramblings of a relational man
If he wants to bring rangers into the conversation Should he not be comparing The miss management at board level ?? Or how chasing a Dream can be catastrophic ?
No th
dedeideoprofundis says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 10:57
2 1 i Rate This
Watt a great night it was, I bet even Johnny Adair was proudly wearing his Celtic shirt!
======================================================================
Just what is the point of that post? Humour?
Rangers’ actions meant that they were not only stealing from the nation, they were stealing from other clubs in the form of trophies, prize money, European place, crowds, merchandising, sponsorship etc. A more successful club attracts more fans, earns more money, can afford a better team etc.
They were paying wages they couldn’t afford through cheating the tax man, and fielding ineligible players by lying to the football authorities.
If anything it was Rangers being in the SPL that cost Hearts, not them being out of it. Hearts are where they are because of what has happened over a few years, not a few months, and Rangers lying, stealing and cheating was part of it.
I’m trying to link Barak Obama’s victory with the state of Scottish football so bear with me.
Watching the dissection of the Romney campaign it soon became clear that he had boxed himself into a corner regarding his support.
In essence he wrote off a host of groups. Romney played to his base. The establishment and angry white men with a feeling of entitlement. He alienated the majority and preached to his base. That is ultimately why he lost. A failure to capture the middle ground. Exclusion rather than inclusion.
This doesn’t mean the GOP are dead and buried but it does not bode well for their future or American society, unless something bridges that schism and a way is found to recapture the centre ground.
Funnily enough I saw some sort of parallel with the old establishment in Scottish football. Times are indeed changing. Those that look to the future will always best adapt to the change. The past is a foreign country.
You know that feeling when you wake and it slowly but assuredly dawns on you that something wonderful just happened.I managed in my emergence from a state of zombiedom to re-connect with the sheer celebratory joy ,noise and colour of Parkhead last night.What a result!
I then, as you do, looked at TSFM and my world returned to normal.Serotonin levels dropped back down as my fellow bloggers referred to tabloid newspaper articles on things Rangers.What is there to say, gutter press articles oozing with dour,mean spirited,competitive drivel involving Sandy Jardine drawing comparison with the respective histories of the two clubs.
All I can say to the journalists and their apparent whipping up of tribal, native attitudes is stop it and stop it now.It feeds emotions in the readership that are negative and downright unpleasant.You had simply to read the blogs last night and their was a collective sense of pride that one of our teams did well in Europe.Their was also concern about the plight of Hearts.
And yet we get the usual guff about a club who should not even be in the third division.Football for the fans is about magic moments that they savour and remember.It is theirs to reflect on and cherish.
You can’t take that away from us.It is good and proud.Stop the divisive gutter drivel.If you can’t do better than that there a good many posters out there that can.
Jangles in talksport now spouting rubbish on talksport now
Armageddon has arrived
I can just see the headlines when the first EPL team goes bust (and it’s surely just a matter of time)
“Rangers demise creates a worldwide ripple. If only the SFA had seen sense”
readcelt says:
I’m trying to link Barak Obama’s victory with the state of Scottish football
——————-
thats an easy one
Obama shredded the constitution to ensure the elite remain in control
the Patriot act and the NDAA act allow innocent people to be locked up without trial
for an indefinate period of time . That isnt the land of the free that is Stalinism
Romney and Obama were bought and paid for by the elite , the rhetoric is different but the end result was always going to be the same .
Oh and they have a compliant MSM in their pockets to BS the people 24/7
Thatcher and Blair were 2 sides of the same coin both were warmongerers and both
created larger divisions between the rich and poor.Agents of the elite
just like Doncaster Regan and Ogilvie those who end up in power end up corrupted to the core
What a birthday party at Celtic Park last night!
Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!
IMHO, this game, as a spectacle, may well have set a new standard for the Champions League.
Football fans throughout Europe and beyond, will have watched this match or seen the highlights, and said to themselves, ‘WOW, amazing!’ .
And the name ‘Celtic’ will once more rise to the top in European football.
And the name ‘Scotland’ will also rise as planet fitba is reminded that their is in this country a very, very special football club.
Has there been a rule change that permitted M’well v Dundee last night?
I thought UEFA insisted that no top tier on Champions League nights.
yes, I’ve just seen it too, its ‘there is’
rantinrobin says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 11:37
————————————————
Got to agree. To say I haver a spring in my step today would be an understatement.
If you could bottle this feeling and sell it you’d cure depression overnight.
On Talksport today a lot of nonsense spouted as per usual, one nugget of which was Andy Gray asking why HMRC have got it in for Scottish clubs (seemingly not having considered the simple explanation that spending the money they should have put aside to pay their taxes is a recipe for disaster)…anyway, Richard Keys made some good points, then said that he wouldn’t respond further to AG because of matters of ‘law and order’, and that some things are taken very seriously up in Scotland. I was amazed at how his reference to intimidation just passed as a normal part of the conversation – have we come to this?
iki says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 12:03
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0
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Has there been a rule change that permitted M’well v Dundee last night?
I thought UEFA insisted that no top tier on Champions League nights.
_______________________________________________
You are right, you can’t schedule a fixture against CL games.
This was a rescheduled one it which is ok, I head Motherwell chairman (Miss Dempster I think) getting asked about this when the fixture was announced.
manandboy says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 12:01
And the name ‘Scotland’ will also rise as planet fitba is reminded that there is in this country a very, very special football club.
——
Aye, is this when Aberdeen qualify for Europe next, is it? 🙂
(Have to say, the display in the stands prior to kick off last night was amongst the most impressive I’ve seen.)
iki
Has there been a rule change that permitted M’well v Dundee last night?
I thought UEFA insisted that no top tier on Champions League nights.
– – – – –
I was really surprised when this score was listed on the radio this morning – can think of a few teams that have been disadvantaged by this ruling in the past… I’m sure the SPL can explain though.
Did anyone else notice that the Sky Sports News guy at one point in his report just after ten referred to ‘Rangers’ instead of ‘Celtic’? He said something like ‘Rangers weathered the storm, but held out’. (can’t now remember the exact context)
I know SSN reporting on the RFC* issue has been poor to the point of biased (Jim Whyte influence, anyone?), but that slip was embarrassing.
Congrats to Celtic on the result – some unexpected points to add to the UEFA coefficient. Also have to praise the performance of the fans – outstanding!
CFC fans on here, too, have been relatively restrained which is great. While the result will indeed rightly create shockwaves, we would view anyone else achieving only 16% possession at home as poor, so let’s be careful what we shout about.
Have to say, though, watching the match I didn’t feel it was as negative as that and Jamie Redknapp said so too, so I must be right!! Still expect TDs though.
John Robertson on talk sport putting it simply 🙂 put forward figures not exuberant amounts to see Hearts through to the end of the season 🙂 Also stating there debt Clearly and who and exactly what they owe 🙂 How with the very reachable sums mentioned and moneys paid that they are Owed from other teams (yes you guessed it rangers) for players such as Templeton 😉 that they can become a self sustaining club in as little as 6-7 weeks to see them through 🙂
“But saying Hearts plight has anything What so ever to do with his beloved rangers not being in the SPL is more than a stretch of the imagination Its the ramblings of a relational man”
————————————————————————————————————————
It was at that very point that I stopped reading his article. Idiotic in the extreme to link the two but so very predictable. Hopefully Stuart will take him to task on Saturday.
readcelt says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 11:26
5 1 Rate This
I’m trying to link Barak Obama’s victory with the state of Scottish football so bear with me.
Watching the dissection of the Romney campaign it soon became clear that he had boxed himself into a corner regarding his support.
In essence he wrote off a host of groups. Romney played to his base. The establishment and angry white men with a feeling of entitlement. He alienated the majority and preached to his base. That is ultimately why he lost. A failure to capture the middle ground. Exclusion rather than inclusion.
This doesn’t mean the GOP are dead and buried but it does not bode well for their future or American society, unless something bridges that schism and a way is found to recapture the centre ground.
Funnily enough I saw some sort of parallel with the old establishment in Scottish football. Times are indeed changing. Those that look to the future will always best adapt to the change. The past is a foreign country.
========================================
On Tuesday night it was fairly widely reported that the Republicans need 74% of the American electorate to be white to be able to win a presidential election. For the first time, it was below that figure – at 72% – and the continuing changes to the country’s demographics mean that the percentage of white voters will continue to decline.
The American Republican Party is now at a crossroads. In my opinion – whatever the consequences to themselves and others – the far-right elements will continue to cling on to their outmoded and selfish ideals. With their deep-seated sense of entitlement and growing sense of injustice, they should descend into a spiral of increasing irrelevance to mainstream politics.
I’d imagine that a splinter group will emerge to steer the party in a more progressive direction; but it is difficult to imagine that truly centrist policies could gain traction within a group of such self-righteous people.
Sometimes, people just refuse to recognise that the world has moved on.
angus1983 says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 12:48
________________________________________________________________________________
Aye, Angus, I forgot to insert two words at the very end, after club – ‘ among others ‘.
As for Aberdeen in Europe again, here’s hoping it’s soon – I remember well the glory days when Aberdeen were a joy to watch. Funny how Man Utd went on to play the same way!
To those who wish to point out the possession statistics and who are old enough to remember.
In 1974 George Foreman fought Ali in what was predicted to be a one way massacre. For 7 rounds he battered and bludgeoned his way through the fight. If you read the statistics you’ll find that (in footballing terms) he had about 90% of the possession. At the end of each round Ali would hit Foreman with a quick flurry but in boxing terms it was one way traffic. In the 8th round Ali stepped up to the plate a knocked out a tiring Foreman. It was seen at the time as the most perfect tactical bout that Ali had ever fought.
Where Celtic battered and bludgeoned over the two games? Certainly, but history will show that over the two games the result was a close victory for each team. The stats are irrelevant, it’s the score that matters.
tcup2012@11:07
The only connection between Hearts current financial problem and RFC-rip is the 2 Tax dodgers Ogilvie and Wiggy Smith.
I don’t care if I sound paranoid here, the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland are IN THE THICK of what has been going on at RFC.
There are far too many connections to be coincidence.
nawlite says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 12:51
13 0 i
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While the result will indeed rightly create shockwaves, we would view anyone else achieving only 16% possession at home as poor, so let’s be careful what we shout about.
Have to say, though, watching the match I didn’t feel it was as negative as that and Jamie Redknapp said so too, so I must be right!!
__________________________________________________________________
Or alternatively, be careful what sevconian internet bampot propaganda we lend credence to. In reality possessions stats were 66%-34% comensurate with many teams who come up against Barcelona home or away
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20150451
ordinaryfan says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 13:19
I’m not with you, how are they in thick of what has been going on at Rangers.
I could understand it if you suggested individual people, but their Institute, in what way.
TW (@tartanwulver) says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 12:41
Richard Keys made some good points, then said that he wouldn’t respond further to AG because of matters of ‘law and order’, and that some things are taken very seriously up in Scotland. I was amazed at how his reference to intimidation just passed as a normal part of the conversation – have we come to this?
———————————————————————————-
There are a fair number of idiots out there, one or two are no doubt dangerous, but IMHO it suits certain folk to exaggerate this as they an use it as an excuse for thier actions (or inactions, e.g. “we can’t discuss this”).
Happy birthday Celtic – simply magnificent – they defeated the most skilful and most persistent club side of them all. Lenny spotted their weaknesses ( they struggle against big fast physical British style sides who close them down at every turn and use pace and height to launch darting attacks. ( Worked for Chelsea last season – others will now follow unless they change – and can they?)
As regards the 140th birthday nonsense from Ibrox:a truly desperate delusion.
The sad truth is that Rangers were a sick club to their core. They employed tactics of sectarianism and supremacy culture to foster “success” which they then could only buy, firstly by pumping in over 140 million of cash from Lucas, King and MIH and when that source dried up maxing out the overdraft and when that source dried out by defrauding tha taxman – and then they died in over 100 million of debt. Around a quarter of a billion pounds wasted maintaining an illusion of poisoned supremacy.
The new club is one which feeds on that sickness.
Jardine is a warped and seriusly unpleasant individual ( always was as a player IMHO- just ask Bobby Russell). Giving him any airspace is an affront to decency.Such nonsense completely undermines The Herald and leaves it down amongst the stinking pile that is The Sun and the record. Its pretensions to educated commentary lie in shreds when it prints garbage like the Wilson article this morning.
Hearts , I am afraid will succumb sooner rather then later. I think administration would be better coming quickly, the debt re-structured via a CVA and a new owner found to run the club withi its means.
I suspect that will mean the end of Tynecastle – it will be sold on , and then the choice is to shift to Murrayfield – renting the lower tier for their games or to do the unthinkable and share with the Hibees.
I would have a little more respect for Shandy Garden if he had come out this morning to talk about the terrible news from HMFC where he was assistant manager and a much respected player for the Jam Tarts.
I would also prefer to remember him as such too because what I have seen in the last 12 months does not fit in with the consumate professional I thought I was seeing at the time…….
Shame how people can destroy the image you had of them………..
——————————————————————————————————————-
I still don’t know how to quote properly but on reading the above I wondered if we have any Greenock Morton fans of a certain age among our regulars. I doubt it as I recall reading on Pie and Bovril a while back how Jardine is hated by Morton fans for a blatant act of cheating at Cappielow in the late 70s/early 80s. I think he made out he’d been struck by a Morton player and got the player sent off, possibly Bobby Thomson. Anyone help with this?
I see the crowd last night was about five thousand short of capacity. Genuinely wondering why this was. I wouldn’t have thought segregating the fans would have lost too may seats.
Auldheid (@Auldheid) says: Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 10:12
I was wondering is it time to think the unthinkable and leave Tynecastle with Mad Vlad to develop as long as he takes responsibility for any outstanding tax?
=============================
When Chris Robinson tried to sell Tyncastle and move to Murrayfield in 2004, the sums just about added up.
Hearts were around £21M in debt. The deal with Cala Homes was for £20M -£22M depending on the number of units that Cala could obtain planning permission for from the council.
The deal with Murrayfield was for an annual rent of approx £500K, plus a surcharge of £5 per ticket on crowd in excess of 18,000 (the capacity of Tynecastle at the time.
Hearts played a number of European ties at Murrayfield and got crowds of between 18,000 and 30,000 for games against Braga, Shalke, Ferencvaros and AEK Athens, plus a friendly against a pub team called Barcelona that attracted around 58,000. 🙂
Vlad came on the scene and promised that staying at and developing Tynecastle was a key priority, thus gained the support of the fans with an emotional attachment to Tynecastle.
————————————
What has happened in the meantime? Vlad’s proposals for Tynecastle were not followed through, although there was a planning cost of £1.383M written off in the last accounts.
Property values have also plummeted. The stadium was revalued in March at just £13.75M on a depreciated replacement cost. The historical cost value was a more realistic £8.4M, although in a firesale Vlad would get just a fraction of that.
The old stand is on its last legs and in need of replacement. There is also an issue with asbestos (seem to have heard that one before.
However, Tynecastle is Vlad’s only real asset. How much would he get now for it as development land? I think he would be lucky to get £6M as there are other building control issues due to COSHH regulations in connection with the nearby distillery.
He could retain the property and wait for an upturn in the property market and a new owner of the club or a newco may see a rental of £500K as a reasonable option, leaving Vlad with the helth and safety issues of the old stand, but with a guaranteed income.
I don’t think ground-sharing with Hibs is now an option given that Hibs have completed their stadium development as Easter Road would be an anathema to the Hearts support.
Best hope for a stadium is the council’s desire to replace Meadowbank, possibly with a new stadium on the west of the city, which could be shared with Edinburgh Rugby. A site at Hermiston has been mooted but is unlikely as it would mean a development on green belt land. An added negative factor would be that the land is owned by one Sir David Murray.
How will it play out? I really don’t know. The current debt is strangling the club. My preference would be for Administration and a lease/rental deal on Tynecastle. If the old stand is eventually condemmed, then the capacity of the remaining three stands of 14,000 should be sufficient in the short term.
monsieurbunny says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 13:28
———————————————————————————-
There are a fair number of idiots out there, one or two are no doubt dangerous, but IMHO it suits certain folk to exaggerate this as they an use it as an excuse for thier actions (or inactions, e.g. “we can’t discuss this”).
=========================================
Tell that to the people who have had to have Police advise them on their personal safety, for just doing their jobs. Watch the interview with the QC, who said that they were driving past his house every 20 minutes for a period and advised him on dealing with post etc. He isn’t the only one.
Tell it to the people of Manchester, more than one or two there. Tell it to the Police Officers who were attacked. Or watch the special edition of Crimewatch just relating to the rioting and looting there.
nawlite
While the result will indeed rightly create shockwaves, we would view anyone else achieving only 16% possession at home as poor, so let’s be careful what we shout about.
– – – – –
jeez, you guys, still believing everything the MSM is telling you? According to uefa, the stats are slightly different… 🙂
http://tinyurl.com/c8c76u2
verselijkfc says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 13:44
28% to 72% from UEFA
…and…
Celtic Paranoia (@CelticParanoia) says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 13:21
“In reality possessions stats were 66%-34%” (from BBC)
Thanks guys. Have to say both those reports sound more like the game I watched than Sky’s 16% to 84% that I quoted. I should know better, but why do we keep getting fed p*ss poor information?
iki says:
Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 12:03
I think the rule applies to games shown on TV, you cannot show a live domestic game on the same night as Champions League. The only reason domestic games are not scheduled for these nights is that some teams would be playing in that competition, there is nothing in the rules preventing any games being played on the same night although I am sure UEFA would not want that due to TV deals and wanting all fans to be sitting on the sofa.
Agrajag:
Murray, his casino pals the Adelsons, Hodge, Lord Nimmo, RBS, D&P, BDO all memebers or have members. Adelsons connected to Bill Ng and the Adelson company Las Vegas Sands connected to Sheffield Utd.
bobferris70 @ 13:35
I see the crowd last night was about five thousand short of capacity. Genuinely wondering why this was. I wouldn’t have thought segregating the fans would have lost too may seats.
———————————
I may be wrong but don’t they have to close the first few rows of front seats due to the height of the Champions League advertising boards? Not sure if that would account for 5000 though.
I apologise in advance if this remark is viewed by some as sexist, but that airhead bimbo on SSN actually asked Andy Walker if last nights’ result was the best in Celtics history. Where do they get these morons? (I know WHY they get them). Fortunately Mr Walker put her straight. I’ve ranted about Sky Sports News in the past, their standard of commentary and reporting is appalling. No research whatsoever, they just blurt out absurd questions in whatever order they pop into their empty heads. “Tabloid TV”, that’s what Sky Sports News is.
The Herald runs a story about Rangers celebrating 140 years of history. The timing of this article is interesting. I wonder if they’d have run it had Barca hammered Celtic, or would the back pages be full of Armageddon nonsense? Just a thought.
Rangers are fully entitled to celebrate 140 years of history and I sincerely hope all involved thoroughly enjoy it. Of course, they’ll get used to it as celebrating 140 years of history will become an annual event for Rangers.
Finally, I hope Hearts manage to navigate a route through their current difficulties. All the talk of the club being in trouble and in danger of extinction is rubbish though. The “operating company” might be struggling but “the club” will be fine – or does that only apply to Rangers?