Over the past couple of years, we have built a healthy, vibrant and influential community which recognises the need to counter the corporate propaganda spouted by the mainstream media on behalf of the football authorities.
The media have, not entirely but in the main, been hostage to the patronage of those in charge of the club/media links, and to the narrow demographic of their readership. Despite a continuing rejection of the media’s position by that readership (in terms of year on year slump in sales) there is an obstinate refusal to see what is by now inevitable – the death of the print media. The lamb metaphor in fact ironically moving to the slaughter.
The football authorities in Scotland, once the country that gave the world the beautiful game, are rigid with fear that their own world will fall apart – because they are wedded to the idea that only one football match actually matters. To that end they will do whatever it takes to ensure that it continues. They have long since dispensed with the notion that football is an interdependent industry, and incredibly, even those who are not participants in that match follow like sheep towards the abattoir.
The argument is no longer that one club cheated and got away with it. The debate that we need to have is one about what is paramount in the eyes of the clubs and the media . Is it the inegrity of sporting endeavour, or box-office?
For out part, independent sites like this have accelerated the print media’s demise, and there have been temporary successes in persuading the clubs to uphold the spirit of sport. However our role has up to now been to cast a spotlight on the inaccuracies, inconsistencies and downright lies that routinely pass for news. News that is imagined up by PR agencies and dutifully copied by the lazy pretend-journalists who betray no thought whatsoever during the process.
Despite our successes, it really is not enough. We have the means at our disposal to do more, but do more we need to change ourselves, because the authorities sure as hell aren’t gonna.
We need to provide meaningful insight into the game that removes the Old Firm prism from the light path. We need to provide news that has covered all of the angles. We need to entertain, inform and energise fans of sport and all clubs.
We need to do that from a wholly independent perspective. None of this refusing to tell the truth about club allegiances. There is no reason why intelligent men and women can’t be objective in spite of their own allegiances (although the corollary absolutely holds true). Our experience of the MSM in this country is that the lack of arms-length principles in the media has corrupted it to such an extent that they barely recognise truth and objectivity. We need to be firm on those arms-length principles.
In order to do that we have put together a plan (with enough room to manoeuvre if required) as follows;
We will rebrand and re-launch as the Independent Sports Monitor. We have acquired the domains isMonitor.co.uk and IndependentSportsMonitor.co.uk, and those will be the main urls after the re-launch, hopefully later in the summer.
The change in name reflects the reality of our current debate which is not always confined to Scotland or football. It will also give us the option in future of applying the success of our model to other sports and jurisdictions through partner sites and blogs. This should also help in our efforts to raise funds in the future. However any expansion outwith the domain of Scottish football is some time away, and will depend on the success we have with the core model.
Our mission statement will be;
- ISM will seek to build a community of sports fans whose overarching aim is the integrity of competition in the sport.
- ISM will, without favour, seek to find objective truths on the conduct and administration of sport. We will avoid building relationships with individuals or organisations which would bring us into conflict with that.
- ISM will provide a platform for the views of ALL fans, and guarantee that those views will be heard in a mutually respectful environment.
- ISM will also endeavour to inform and entertain members on a wide range of topics related to our shared love of sport.
- ISM will seek to represent the views of sports fans to sporting authorities and hold the authorities to account.
We have estimated our (modest) costs to expand our role as per recent discussions. The expanded role will take the form of a new Internet Radio Channel where we hope to provide 24/7 content by the end of the year. It will also see a greater news role where we will engage directly with clubs and authorities to seek answers to our questions directly. And we will seek to contact the best fan sites across Scotland with a view to showcasing their content.
We have identified individuals who we want to work (initially on a part time basis) towards our objectives, we have identified premises where we want to conduct our business, and we hope to move into those premises during this summer.
To finance these plans there are a couple of stages;
- Initially (as soon as possible) we need to pay accommodation and hosting costs for the first year. To do so, we hope to appeal to the community itself. Our aim is to raise around £5000 by the end of August.
- There are salary costs (around £15,000) attached to our first year plan, but these have been underwritten by Big Pink, and equipment costs (est. £3000). These will be reimbursed if the advertising campaign we recently started bears any fruit (we will not know about that for a few months).
- It will not be too discouraging if we make losses in the first couple of years, so if necessary we will seek crowd-funding to finance our plans if the resources of the community itself prove inadequate to smooth a path to break-even point.
Our first year may be a perilous hand-to-mouth existence, but I am certain the journey will be an exciting and enjoyable one. We will also need to search our community resources for contacts at clubs; players, officials, ex-players, local journalists etc. Please get in touch if you have any in at your club.
We also hope to tap into the expertise of our community for advice, comment and analysis of developments, and we will be looking for any aspiring presenters, journalists, sound and video editors, graphic designers (and lots of others) to help us find our feet. Any offers of assistance would be gratefully accepted.
We mustn’t lose sight of why we are doing this. It is because we love our sport, because we want to be able to continue to call it that, and because the disconnect we find in Scottish football, that of the conflicting interests of the fans and the money men, will never be addressed as long as the fans are hopelessly split.
The ultimate goal is to allow sport – not our individual clubs – to triumph over the greed and corporate troglodyte-ism of those people who run it. I am confident that we as a community desperately want to be able to make a difference. That is why I am confident we can achieve our aim of becoming a significant player in the game.
The presence of the occasional poster coming on with an alternative view, even if it is trolling, does us no harm whatsoever.
At times there is often an unrealistic expectation that things down Govan way are going to explode any moment and the Jelly and Ice Cream will be back on the menu.
If history tells us anything it is that the wagon going around Ibrox will roll along even when it has no wheels.
While we all no its makes no sense and the club should have been put to rest a long time ago, it is still there and, for whatever reason, some folks are currently willing to put enough money in to keep its heart beating.
We have to understand and make allowances for why that is, regardless of it being right or wrong or making any sort of business sense whatsoever. The occasional view from left field, regardless of the source is needed to keep us on our toes.
For what it is worth IMHO I can still see T’Rangers limping along financially for another season and, as it should be in sport, their future will mostly be dependent on how they perform on the park against their Championship rivals.
wottpi says:
Member: (666 comments)
_______________________________________
You might want to post again – quickly 🙂
Hector, Don’t know if your the same Hector from another forum I visit, but if you are your a good guy but this forum is different, it’s not about WUMS (although I didn’t read your post TBH) . See you later mate. 😛
Apologies for transgressing . Sorry .
The DR new strategy
If you cant talk a player of your team up
Talk your rivals down 😳
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/gordon-waddell-even-virgil-van-5959806
Tcup, Can you not copy & paste? links to DR gives them money mate.
Also have been seeing and hearing a lot of talk about revamping the league and especially summer football
I personally don’t think this is to safe gaurd TRFC promotion hopes
But a realisation that the EPL TV deal is going to drown the TV and radio airwaves and our wee pissant leauge’s will be demoted to Sky sports 1245 and BT sports 368
Just hope they don’t do their usual think tank that takes 3 year’s to come back and say sorry to late
jimbo says:
Member: (21 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 11:31 am
Tcup, Can you not copy & paste? links to DR gives them money mate.
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Im on commission mate
I’m a long time lurker and subscriber just arrived at the new portal. I’m through the door and would just like to say thanks to all the contributors since RTC days. My own taste is for analysis ahead of opinion, but I do read everything.
jimbo says:
June 28, 2015 at 9:19 am
Just heard on BBC R Scotland that the football authorities are considering a January shut down.
————————————–
One main argument against a January shut-down is that the climate here is too unpredictable, and we might have a mild and sunny January perfect for football, followed by a big freeze in February, so end up with a massive end of season backlog. At least a switch to summer football would presumably mean a longer winter shut-down, and so avoid more of the time that cold might disrupt the fixture schedule.
wottpi says:
Member: (666 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 9:27 am
You are probably correct. I’m afraid all Rangers fans have to look forward to off field, is a company clinging on to the cliff face with its fingernails, interspersed by bouts of Wil E Coyote style dancing on fresh air, before gabbing tightly onto whatever dead branch comes to hand. Gravity, however, will win out in the end, it always does. Unless, Football Fan’s Messiah actually put his hand in his own pocket.
Tcup,
I think the article on Van Dijk is a fair and reasoned piece from Gordon Waddell which ties in with my own personal (lay) assessment of him. I think it’s constructively critical and not at all on my paranoid meter. You could argue that talking big Virg down is actually good news for Celtic.
But a deliberately inserted negative story about Celtic. Absolutely not.
I take on board FF’s alternative scenarios – and I find them to be plausible enough. It is always difficult to know if you are being objective enough on these matters, but in the absence of hard evidence, judgement is the best tool we have.
My judgement is still that the numbers just do not add up to allow Rangers to get to the stature the old club had, they simply MUST do a deal with Ashley if they are to begin a building exercise to get them there. Even then, the old days will not come back so easily. Remember their stature was artificially inflated through years when they breaking rules right left and centre, so to get to oldco status and stature they have an even steeper climb.
As you all know I have a bee in my bonnet about Sky/BT and their EPL TV deal
As many of you also know I do not subscribe to either and have no intention of ever subscribing
As I use other methods for my sports,movie and series pleasure
My main point is that as it stands there are 11 sports channels pumped out by Sky/BT
There are others premiere sports Euro sports etc
Of the 11 Skt broadcast 7 SS 1-5,ss F1 & SSN
BT have BT sports 1-2,BT sports ESPN and now BT Europe
At the start of the season we have 3 games being shown Live on BT-Sky
Great advert for Scottish football you may say
Inconvenience for fans with rearanged kick off times you may add
We will get to show how good our leauge’s are you may even hope
Truth is Scottish football is only being so widely broadcast because there
Is nothing else on
During these games you are likely to see news flashes of potential signings for Derby etc
And once the EPL season kicks off we are back to Friday night early Sunday etc
As we are watching ss4-5 while a blue square game is in BT 1 or ss 1
Welcome to the future/present of Scottish football
A summer league is the only answer to showcase our football across the globe
Big Pink says:
Moderator: (310 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Tcup,
I think the article on Van Dijk is a fair and reasoned piece from Gordon Waddell which ties in with my own personal (lay) assessment of him. I think it’s constructively critical and not at all on my paranoid meter. You could argue that talking big Virg down is actually good news for Celtic.
But a deliberately inserted negative story about Celtic. Absolutely not.
5 0 Rate This
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Big pink
I concur with what you are saying
What the point I was trying to put across was
If this was a player of a certain other team would we see such critical analysis of said player
Or
Would they highlight all all the great ability he has
And yes put in there because they have no good stories about their pet team
Tartanwulver says:
Member: (234 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 12:02 pm
jimbo says:
June 28, 2015 at 9:19 am
Just heard on BBC R Scotland that the football authorities are considering a January shut down.
————————————–
One main argument against a January shut-down is that the climate here is too unpredictable, and we might have a mild and sunny January perfect for football, followed by a big freeze in February, so end up with a massive end of season backlog. At least a switch to summer football would presumably mean a longer winter shut-down, and so avoid more of the time that cold might disrupt the fixture schedule.
==========
Fixture backlogs are also a consequence of the number of games played.
They might want to consider the Russian model(or a variation of) where a sixteen team league allows a close to 3 month winter shutdown without having to play in June/July.
A summer league is the only answer to showcase our football across the globe
===============================================================
Not the worst idea although I worry about the effects of international tournaments every two years, it is hard enough as it is to compete against the EPL and CL without taking on the World Cup and the Euros. I fear there is no easy solution to the domination of TV,the Germans seem to be onto something but I am not sure their model is compatible with our market or circumstances.
P/T Arab,
You may well be right, but Scottish clubs will never vote for a 30 match season (15 x twice?)
tcup 2012 says:
Member: (265 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 11:23 am
The DR new strategy
If you cant talk a player of your team up
Talk your rivals down ?
==================================
I have to be honest and say most Celtic fans I’ve spoken to think along the same lines as Gordon Waddell to some extent re V.V.D. The problem for me with Waddell is he writes negative articles far too often about Celtic for it to be a co-incidence, although that doesn’t mean some of his views can’t be valid.
FF
I’m sure other leauge’s with summer football take these competition’s into consideration
Most so called Summer league’s don’t actually play all summer
They start up earlier take a winter break and end later
The world cup/euros can be accommodated by starting up slightly later or trimming down the length of the winter break
As most so called Summer league’s winter breaks are about 6-10 weeks
It would also help out teams in Euro competition’s as as it stands teams are going into games against teams already 4-8 weeks into their season
While our teams haven’t kicked a ball in anger
My advice to anyone seeking to find a journalist without an agenda, is to first find a Unicorn
I have no objection to Journalists with agendas, most of the great pieces of journalism have come from people who wrote from a particular viewpoint, from “J’Accuse!” onwards. John Pilger is a great journalist, who definitely has a viewpoint, for example.
What I object to are people who claim not to have an agenda, when they so obviously do, and even more so, those journalists who are happy to distort, obfuscate and flat out lie in pursuit of their agenda.
Give me an honest partisan journalist, over a dishonest “objective” one, every time.
The smsm are what they are in this country, agenda driven, certainly.
I agree with upthehoops the coverage of Celtic player VVD reported by Gordon Waddell (to many honest co-incidences) is expected sad to say.
Look at the press coverage recently concerning the Govan club, all linked signings positive, manager portrayed as very positive (compare Mr Deila appointment for example). Only negative stories comes from smsm when it is all over social media to the extent when they have to report something negative but make it sound positive (example meeting with DK and Mr Ashley). Co-incidences is a nice pc way of explaining what I use to think was paranoia. Co-incidence then, co-incidence now but IMO paranoia forever.
Summer football for me as I look out at this lovely day
valentinesclown says:
Member: (176 comments)
Summer football for me too, though the weather here is more Autumnal than High Summer at the moment. Still, better warmish rain, than freezing rain
There is an alternative to how we play the game which would eradicate the repetitiveness of playing each other four times in the Premier, which I don’t think I have seen mentioned anywhere before.
Clearly some outside the box thinking is required, so how about Prem teams playing each other twice, but playing every team in the Championship once. Always at home for the senior league team, with the Championship team keeping all of the gate receipts they bring with them. They could possibly afford to give a percentage of these briefs away, boosting gates.
At the moment that would be 2 x 11 games + 10 v Championship teams. Knocking 6 games from the current tally. Or increasing the Prem to 14 still reduces 2 games from the schedule.
The Championship teams get a monthly “cup final-ly”, a bit of experience at a higher level, and a shop window showcase. The Prem teams get a possible banana skin or the opportunity to experiment or blood/rotate and rest players.(or not)
Sponsorship and tv revenue could be incorporated to aid the share of wealth, and cross league interest becomes a staple diet of Joe Bloggs the punter.
I’m a fan of Summer football as well.
I think it would encourage more fans to actually go to games, much nicer going to a game when it’s decent weather rather than cold and wet. I also think younger people are more likely to go if it’s actually a pleasant experience. It really is about selling an experience and people don’t want to be sitting cold and wet on a Wednesday evening, getting home late with work the following day.
The other advantage is the possibility of actually selling our game to TV channels during the off season for the major leagues. There is an appetite for football and we might actually be able to sell our game to people outside of Scotland. Particularly if there are more folk there, creating a bit of an atmosphere as well. I think safe standing areas will help with that.
Yes there are disadvantages, for example international competition, however I think the domestic game needs fixed and summer football would help that.
I came across a first (for me at any rate) yesterday – a Celtic fan who misses “OF” matches. Even more curious, it was a female Celtic fan whose husband and two sons are Rangers fans. Go figure as they say, but I am glad at least that hens’ teeth are not figments of someone’s imagination.
Of course one tooth a full set of wallies doesn’t make, but I do wonder whether it is just the company I usually keep that cloisters me from such opinion.
Why We Need to Change – Test Case
This new international competition and its qualifying structure has been in the public domain for 6 months.
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2079553.html
I think this competition, which does resolve some current international friendly problems, poses some major issues regarding the possible manipulation of results by some countries to give them a better chance of qualifying for future main Euro finals by deliberately losing matches in prior Euro and World Cup campaigns. A secondary disadvantage is that it provides a safety net for “top seeded” countries to qualify by virtue of ranking rather than results only. All of this undermines sporting integrity in a number of ways but has probably been rationalised as acceptable for the larger TV revenues which will be raised.
I have not previously posted about it on SFM as my experience of the blog led me judge that the responses and level of ongoing debate would not justify the amount of my time required to analyse the data and lay out the problems and possibilities.
With the recent debate around the proposed changes could I ask the following:-
For Trisidium and/or other change plan members.
1. Is this the type of subject matter that ISM staff would cover in an Original Post?
2. If an OP was produced, would it be updated (rankings, possible groupings etc) throughout all future 2018 World Cup qualification rounds to monitor results and generate ongoing debate?
For Blog Readers.
1. Is this the type of subject matter that you would be interested in?
2. Have you already, or do you intend to, research the link yourself or would you always wait until someone else researched it and condensed the information?
Any answers may provide a gauge on interest levels of other subjects and I hope that this post in some small way helps.
Big Pink says:
Moderator: (311 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 3:32 pm
I came across a first (for me at any rate) yesterday – a Celtic fan who misses “OF” matches. Even more curious, it was a female Celtic fan whose husband and two sons are Rangers fans.
=================
Browbeaten?
Big Pink says:
Moderator: (311 comments)
There is a section of the Celtic support who miss it, I am sure.
What are they missing though?
The Old firm experience?
Or the humiliation that would be Rangers lot for the foreseeable future?
I’ll get ma coat
I no longer give house room to the Record or Sunday Mail, and won’t click on any links to give them the traffic revenue, but I have bought the latter long enough to know that Gordon Waddell is a dyed in the wool Falkirk fan. I have read many pieces from him over the years very critical of Rangers. He will be no lover of either club but being employed where he is, will have to come up with regular articles on them. Some will be praiseworthy, some will be guaranteed to wind up their followers and believe that he is against their club, until his next piece critical of the other lot which they will conveniently ignore.
The problem with a winter break is not knowing in advance when you are going to need it. You could close through a beautiful Spring January and return to play in a February blizzard.
Why not leave (say) the last weekends in Jan., Feb., and Mar. fixture free to absorb at least part of any fixture backlog. If there is no backlog, bring forward 3 fixtures from the following weekend so the tv companies have something to show.
John Clark says:
June 27, 2015 at 11:48 pm
Haywire says:
Member: (36 comments)
June 27, 2015 at 10:59 pm
‘..am really quite amazed that ‘Footyfan’ has set you all going!..’
_________
Welcome back, Haywire!
……………………………………………
Hello JC,
Thank you for the greeting. I note that there are 95 TUs for your post. I hope that we can come to some arrangement on sharing that number, unlike a League game!
I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of your Antipodean Odyssey – the bits I could understand anyway.
Additionally, I never tire of seeing your mantra regarding the deplorable conduct of the Scottish Football authorities – more power to your elbow (bloody McCulloch again!)
Have you any idea when we are likely to join M’learned Friends again for another bout of tomfoolery? I have sharpened my pencils so many times that I’ve only got stubs left.
Finally, although your note from last night remains, my original has been deemed beyond the pail/pale(?). I seem to have the knack of antagonising the Moderator and this has happened a couple of times. I blame it on the parents. But then again, it could be the pinot noir!
I shall avoid the topic which I think caused the problem, but I will flag up the other thing I mentioned. There is some talk of ‘Elbows’ getting the Assistant Manager/Coach job at Rugby Park. I leave it to your collective imaginations how that has gone down with Killie fans, but I think that I can summarise it (and leave out the bad language) by saying that it is not being regarded in an entirely positive light.
Just a month or two ago, the new Killie Chairman was talking of his vision of a Killie team playing good, passing, football in ‘the Killie way’. That does not sound like the type of football ‘Elbows’ would espouse.
Was out last night with some of the guys,a mixed bag,one of them ,a Motherwell season ticket holder,mentioned he was in the new Sports Direct store in Glasgows Argyle St,he said he could not find any TRIFC tops anywhere,strange,maybe sold out.
Tris
We have a small group of very dedicated individuals who have, with your help, worked hard to make our community the thriving, tolerant and intelligent one that it is. Our main aim in the coming months is to give a greater voice to that community, under the banner of SFM.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I wonder if you polled the Rangers contributors and readers how many would agree with the tolerant description what the feedback would be?
I have had a few posts fail to get past the mods in recent days. None were abusive nor overly controversial but did present IMO a very important aspect of the Rangers saga that perhaps is not in keeping with the view of the Mods?
tcup 2012 says:
Member: (266 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 12:30 pm
A summer league is the only answer to showcase our football across the globe
——————————-
If that were true, people outside of Sweden and Norway would be watching the Swedish and Norwegian leagues right now. I don’t believe they are.
The other oft-espoused argument that playing a summer season would assist Scottish clubs in Europe is patently disproved by the country ranking table which shows precisely no countries in the top 20 operating a March to November season or anything like it.
Russia actually moved to a winter season in order to assist their clubs in the latter stages of European competition. If your season ends in winter then players are likely to be moving on, and you’ll have to continue in Europe with a rebuilt squad. You also won’t actually play in the European competition you’ve just qualified for until some 8 months (and two transfer windows) later.
The answer to not having to play qualifying rounds before the domestic season has started is simply, I’m afraid, to win the damn games and raise the coefficient so we can enter the competitions at a later stage.
Trisidium says:
Moderator: (226 comments)
June 30, 2015 at 3:47 pm
STICKY:
After listening to SFM-ers’ views on the re-branding of the site, we have decided to retain the name Scottish Football Monitor.
===========================
Many thanks for listening, and for taking on board the views of your “customers”. There’s a lesson there for the SFA, the SPFL, and for many of our clubs. You are leading by example.
Tris
Apologies, re-read your point and get it now.
On the subject of “disrespectful to others” The Clumpany is given free reign to pi££ take and completely disrespect all things Rangers without adding anything to the debate. I’m no fan of Phil’s style either but at least he adds some insight.
The Clumpany adds nothing and people who want to engage in his “wit” should seek it out themselves. Allowing him to reach a wider audience via this “all inclusive” site does nothing to support the narrative of not being Anti Rangers (IMO of course)
weeman,
i would be interested in you contributing an article about the upcoming Nations Cup and the play off qualifiers.
i have noticed over the last couple of years that some of the international minnows have been improving, especially the Faeroes. The results against Greece especially did not get the recognition they should have.
Anyway, i am a fan of international football despite the focus always being on the major nations. i would be interested in your views on the new competition. it seems to have its flaws but does remove pointless friendlies which can only be good.
i look forward to your contribution.
stevo says:
Member: (16 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 6:36 pm
tcup 2012 says:
Member: (266 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 12:30 pm
A summer league is the only answer to showcase our football across the globe
——————————-
If that were true, people outside of Sweden and Norway would be watching the Swedish and Norwegian leagues right now. I don’t believe they are.
The other oft-espoused argument that playing a summer season would assist Scottish clubs in Europe is patently disproved by the country ranking table which shows precisely no countries in the top 20 operating a March to November season or anything like it.
Russia actually moved to a winter season in order to assist their clubs in the latter stages of European competition.
============
Tbh the country ranking table shows you exactly what you might expect….the more populous the country the higher the ranking (broadly speaking).
And btw Russia didn’t “move to a winter season” (as a vague awareness of winter conditions round that neck of the woods might suggest).
They cut the number of sides in their top flight and dropped June/July games but shifted from a March to October season to a August to May season with….wait for it…a WINTER BREAK…from early December to March.
Oddly I mentioned this in a post earlier this afternoon….god knows why I bothered 🙁
Trisidium says:
Moderator: (226 comments)
June 30, 2015 at 3:47 pm
STICKY:
After listening to SFM-ers’ views on the re-branding of the site, we have decided to retain the name Scottish Football Monitor.
==============================
Right that’s it. You are the ideal man to run the SFA! Listening to the views of customers is an alien concept in that organisation. Even replying to e-mails and letters from their customers is a no-no. Incredible when you think of it that the SFA do not answer perfectly polite communications from fans despite having a contact us section on their website.
Trisidium on June 30, 2015 at 3:47 pm
STICKY:
After listening …
———-
Excellent. The live broadcast alone is a big step forward already. As some have mentioned, a great alternative to the established media.
jimbo says:
Member: (22 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 11:31 am
Tcup, Can you not copy & paste? links to DR gives them money mate.
——–
Jimbo cutting & pasting copyrighted articles without permission ain’t a good idea (yes, I know the DR itself isn’t very respectful of this principle). But if publishers want to get stroppy they can take action to protect their material. Selected or highlighted attributed quotes are usually ok but wholesale ‘republishing’ isn’t something we should really encourage 😉
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1264 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 9:43 pm
It might be worth the administrators checking, however I believe it could be considered acceptable so long as a direct link to the original story is provided along with the text. That might not be the case for every outlet.
not long in from tonights ‘ think tank’ ….. no support for the new era on here…… basically seen as too ‘ tic minded and concerns over the misguided resolution ……
Haywire says:
Member: (37 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 4:33 pm
///////////////////
Haywire
Just seen your post about a man they call elbows
All I can say to any killie fan looking in is
Just because of the style of football he played doesn’t mean he won’t be a great coach
Also doesn’t mean he will be a great coach either
Only time will tell
But you won’t know unless you give him a chance
Haywire says:
Member: (37 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 4:33 pm
‘…Have you any idea when we are likely to join M’learned Friends again for another bout of tomfoolery? I have sharpened my pencils so many times that I’ve only got stubs left.’
———-
There was a post towards the end of May ( my apologies to the poster for not noting his name) which seemed to suggest that 7th of July would be the first day of a 4-day hearing.A link to the rolls-of-court thingy was provided but I wasn’t able to open it.
I will wait until Friday 4th July and have a look at the court rolls.
But if someone on the blog can confirm the date now, that would be very helpful!
( Sorry to be coming so late: haven’t had a minute to masel a’ day!)
Summer football is not the way to go imo, as others have pointed out there are as many negatives as positives although negs are weightier!
Get better people running, selling, promoting our game and things across the board would improve dramatically!
Re: Summer Football
As others have pointed out you cannot guarantee anything with our weather when it comes to winter. March could be worse than January, in fact do we get summers ? If there is to be a change the only advantage I see in it all is that for the foreseeable future Scottish teams will be playing qualifiers for any European football so being in the midst of a season should help. I honestly don’t think that subject would be raised if our teams were automatic entries. Winters and summers are not as I recall them as a child. I’m sure we had warmer temperatures back in April than this June.
Re: The SD Shirt deal.
In terms of negotiating and aiding Sevco it’s clear ole MA isn’t giving them the “shirt off his back” quite the opposite really.
Football Fan says:
Member: (96 comments)
June 27, 2015 at 5:04 pm
Oor Dave is certainly no white knight but then again few very rich and powerful men are,they all have thrown the rule book out the window at some point in their bid to the summit.
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That is generalising in an an attempt to “normalise” the actions of King.
Firstly , your statement is nonsense. I’m not sure what circles you move in and whether you actually know any “very rich men”. The opposite though is my experience, and it is considerable. The vast majority of very wealthy individuals make their money because they are smarter and work harder . Not because they are crooks with no respect for rules or law.
Individuals who behave in the way King does are comparatively rare, and of those who do behave that way many end up in prison . Which is exactly where King would have ended up were it not for the option to hand over a significant amount of his questionably gained funds. Sanitising King is no doubt part of his PR strategy, however he is one pig that putting lipstick on changes nothing.
Danish Pastry says:
Blog Writer: (1264 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 9:43 pm
jimbo says:
Member: (22 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 11:31 am
Tcup, Can you not copy & paste? links to DR gives them money mate.
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Jimbo cutting & pasting copyrighted articles without permission ain’t a good idea
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Correct, just do not click the link, if you don’t want to. 😯
upthehoops says:
Member: (757 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 8:46 pm (Edit)
Trisidium says:
Moderator: (226 comments)
June 30, 2015 at 3:47 pm
STICKY:
After listening to SFM-ers’ views on the re-branding of the site, we have decided to retain the name Scottish Football Monitor.
==============================
Right that’s it. You are the ideal man to run the SFA! Listening to the views of customers is an alien concept in that organisation.
_______________________________________________
Will I get a blazer? 🙂
parttimearab says:
Member: (367 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Tbh the country ranking table shows you exactly what you might expect….the more populous the country the higher the ranking (broadly speaking).
And btw Russia didn’t “move to a winter season” (as a vague awareness of winter conditions round that neck of the woods might suggest).
They cut the number of sides in their top flight and dropped June/July games but shifted from a March to October season to a August to May season with….wait for it…a WINTER BREAK…from early December to March.
Oddly I mentioned this in a post earlier this afternoon….god knows why I bothered 🙁
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Heh! What I meant by “winter season” is the Autumn-Spring calendar operated by the majority of European leagues. There are apparently people who use “summer football” to describe this type of season extended at both ends and with a winter break. Others use it to mean a Spring-Autumn calendar, with title celebrations on a dark, rainy night in November etc. etc. When the supposed advantage of playing European qualifiers mid-season is cited, you know they mean the latter. I’d go for the “winter break” terminology for the former, to avoid any doubt. Russia’s winter break is indeed so long that you’d have to wonder why they switched calendars at all.
And although the country ranking table does track population size to a large extent, you might expect Sweden (being not much smaller than Portugal) to be consistently punching above its weight if playing qualifiers mid-season was an advantage to its clubs, instead of falling short of its ranking by population, season after season. That’s really the only statistical evidence we have of whether or not it’s a good idea. The match-fitness argument might sound plausible, but it’s either wrong, or it’s negated by other disadvantages of a March-November season.
A wee bit more on Kingsley, from The Guardian, no less .
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/26/david-shrigley-partick-thistle-mascot
paddy malarkey says:
Member: (30 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 12:33 am
‘A wee bit more on Kin[..]ey, from The Guardian, no less .’
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Thanks for that link to a splendidly entertaining piece of writing.
Paddy M
My old friend Malky Munro got a namecheck in there. If I ever write a book about football there will be a chapter about him, from tales of his incarceration in a 6’x6′ cell (Malky was about 6’2″ tall) by the Chinese government (fearful he was a spy) to his drunken sojourns with Charlie Tully, and his reciprocated intense dislike of Jock Stein … and I haven’t even mentioned his truly wonderful Runyonesque prose and a wit which was always acid yet gentle.
He did indeed coin the phrase “Maryhill Magyars”.
Malky was also two things that the LCD of the MSM are not; namely a genuinely talented wordsmith; and a proper fact-checking, grapevine climbing, and ever-passionate journalist.
Along with his friend, the late, great Charlie Graham, the two most influential Scots journalists I ever came across.
weeman says:
Member: (60 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 3:40 pm
‘..For Blog Readers.
1. Is this the type of subject matter that you would be interested in?
2. Have you already, or do you intend to, research the link yourself or would you always wait until someone else researched it and condensed the information?
Any answers may provide a gauge on interest levels of other subjects and I hope that this post in some small way helps.’
__________
As a reader of this blog, I can say that the whole world of football is of interest to me.
Up until the disgraceful cheating of SDM and the even worse deceit practiced upon us by the Football Authorities-aided and abetted by BBC Radio Scotland and the Keefs and Grahams and Lindsays etc etc of the SMSM, I enjoyed the game, the indeed beautiful game, as a broadly fair, competitive, rule-governed game.There were occasional suggestions that particular referees might have been less than impartial, but I could live with that.
What I cannot live with is the fact, the indisputable fact, that our Football Authorities, the rule-makers and arbiters of our sport, sold their very souls and the whole idea that our game was clean when they signed the 5-Way Agreement.
This blog originated in the attempt to expose SDM and his RFC(IL)as past masters in the art of cheating us all, and destroying belief in the notion of fair, sporting competition.
As long as we do not forget that,and as long as we continue to call for the truth about the death of RFC(IL), and the non-entitlement of the new club to claim to be RFC, I will be quite happy to wander down all the other interesting avenues of discussion and debate on world football.
The dirty deeds of our own Football Administration are as rank and vile as those of the , allegedly, dirty deeds of FIFA.
We would just be acting as simpletons if we thought we could ‘move on’ and let the bas….s away with it.
There can be no future for our game for as long as we believe it to be rigged by the very people in charge of it. Simples.
Big Pink says:
Moderator: (313 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 12:08 am
upthehoops says:
Member: (757 comments)
June 28, 2015 at 8:46 pm (Edit)
Trisidium says:
Moderator: (226 comments)
June 30, 2015 at 3:47 pm
STICKY:
After listening to SFM-ers’ views on the re-branding of the site, we have decided to retain the name Scottish Football Monitor.
==============================
Right that’s it. You are the ideal man to run the SFA! Listening to the views of customers is an alien concept in that organisation.
_______________________________________________
Will I get a blazer? 🙂
=================================
Unless you are taking up bowling, I hope not!
The word ‘blazer’ just about sums up everything that has been wrong with Scottish football since as long as I can remember.
From Andrew Dickson, in the Mail:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3142615/Reece-Wabara-compared-Barcelona-star-Dani-Alves-defender-nears-Rangers-move.html#ixzz3eQzbXSev
What can I say, except that it’s clearly all hands to the pumps in pursuit of ST sales. Isn’t Dickson the former Rangers press officer, or some such?
a question for football fan or anyone for that matter.
why did hearts fight so hard for a CVA?good morning.
Both Wabara and Gibson come from Bromsgrove. Ex-West Brom and Scotland player Bobby Hope is a former Bromsgrove Rovers manager and a Rangers fan (I went to University with his son). Putting 2 and 2 together and probably getting 5, I did idly wonder if he is part of the international scouting network with special responsibility for the Bromsgrove area. 😉
I actually think trying to find undiscovered talent through the lower leagues is a reasonable approach for a cash-strapped team. There have been a few uncovered that way (e.g. Kevin Phillips), and it’s low risk. However, it does not tally with the “whatever it takes” statements and the utterly ludicrous over-hyping in the media. Aside from anything, it immediately puts unreasonable pressure on these boys before they’ve even kicked a ball.
Haywire @ 4.55pm
Re Elbows ‘promotion’ to the premiership.
I too had a brief sojourn to a watering hole last night and within the mixed group (football wise that is, terribly and accurately stereo typed male 40 somethings otherwise) the subject of McCulloch and his shift to Kilmarnock came up with us too. One wit suggested – “oh well that’s the play off line up sorted for next year then!”
John Clark says:
Member: (922 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 1:10 am
paddy malarkey says:
Member: (30 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 12:33 am
‘A wee bit more on Kin[..]ey, from The Guardian, no less .’
____________
Thanks for that link to a splendidly entertaining piece of writing.
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Agreed! Now that is journalism and a very entertaining read.
A piece full of clearly defined facts, humour and opinion that shows the Club in a very positive light.
y4rmy says:
Member: (83 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 9:34 am
I actually think trying to find undiscovered talent through the lower leagues is a reasonable approach for a cash-strapped team.
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That should be (and certainly was years ago) the strategy for ALL teams, not just the Cash-strapped.
The ‘big’ scouts have many contacts at all levels who feed them info on who is worth seeing, I believe that Network was broken at Ibrox as soon as Lawrence Marlborough decided to bring in Souness.
IMO, that was the turning point for Scottish Football, not David Murray’s bravado. He just tried to continue going down that path but once the ban on English teams was lifted, he had to pay a lot more to get the same quality players.
So for me, the scouting Network at Ibrox did not stop because of the spivs, the seeds were scattered a long time ago. They just stopped watering the few still living.
I played in direct opposition to Bobby Hope in an under 14s Final at Firhill in 1958.
He was a class above everyone else, not only on the field, but probably any pros on the terracing.
A fabulous player, who joined West Brom a year or do later.
My brother and I, born and bred in Maryhill, made a sentimental return to Firhill last March and watched the game V Motherwell.
It was a most enjoyable experience.
We were early and asked the two doormen at the main entrance where we could get a decent pint locally.
They took us to their Members Lounge, apologising unnecessarily about it’s non salubrious facilities.
We enjoyed a pint or two surrounded by home fans, many of them families.
From the elderly lady at the ticket box, to the lad sitting in front of us who brought us up to speed on the players, their form and other aspects of the modern Thistle.
The most impressive fact was that under 16s were admitted free.
A passionate but fair support added to the occasion, which was a fine game of football which the Jags deservedly won.
A great afternoon for two old timers who left Maryhill 62 years ago.
Good Morning.
In one of the more spectacular bits of Ibrox-related hype of recent times, the Mail (above an article penned by former Rangers and Sevco employee Andrew Dickson) is today running the headline
“Reece Wabara compared to Barcelona star Dani Alves as defender nears Rangers move”
Here is the article.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3142615/Reece-Wabara-compared-Barcelona-star-Dani-Alves-defender-nears-Rangers-move.html
I laughed out loud at it!
And then wrote down a few thoughts…
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2015/06/29/kit-kat-yip-yap/
Enjoy the rest of the day!
I don’t post here often enough to demand special treatment, if there is indeed such a thing on SFM, but I really would appreciate an explanation as to why a post I made on June 27 at 10.44pm was pulled. Anyone?
Torquemada says:
Member: (57 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 10:29 am
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The mods won’t be expecting the Spanish Inquisition.
Torquemada says:
Member: (57 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 10:29 am
I don’t post here often enough to demand special treatment, if there is indeed such a thing on SFM, but I really would appreciate an explanation as to why a post I made on June 27 at 10.44pm was pulled. Anyone?
========================================
It happens. I’m a relatively new poster on here & have had a couple of innocuous (to me) posts pulled, only to see very similar (words, phrases, intent) content allowed a few hours later.
It’s not easy being a mod & I wouldn’t like to try it.
The Clumpany
This would be the same Dean Furman that was at Rangers circa 2007-8 before he went to Bradford City and latterly Doncaster Rovers who released him in May this year; this despite him playing a leading role for [and sometimes Captain of] Bafana Bafana.
So it seems expert Championship players released by their clubs are citing other players released from their clubs as being a good signing?
Have a break, have a kit-kat.
Torquemada says:
Member: (57 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 10:29 am
I don’t post here often enough to demand special treatment, if there is indeed such a thing on SFM, but I really would appreciate an explanation as to why a post I made on June 27 at 10.44pm was pulled. Anyone?
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Esteban Esteban says:
Member: (108 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 10:38 am
Torquemada says:
Member: (57 comments)
June 29, 2015 at 10:29 am
—
The mods won’t be expecting the Spanish Inquisition.
Class .
Is [Keith] Jacksonitis contagious ?
‘Journalists’ not checking the facts
http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/someone-mocked-up-a-laughably-fake-glastonbury-poll-and-at-least-one-newspaper-fell-for-it–WJgIO1NxXGg
@torquemada you didn’t refere to Partick’s new mascot by name did you? I noticed this morning that’s now falling foul of the filter 🙁 courtesy of the letters Golf Sierra Lima at 4,5 and 6. Maybe the mods can tweak that filter to add spaces before and or after the verboten trio
So what is the opinion of the punters who have actually paid to watch the new Dani Alves:
http://doncasterroverssupportersgroup.org/forum/the-rumour-mill/reece-wabara/
http://doncasterroverssupportersgroup.org/forum/general-doncaster-rovers-chat/furman-772/
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/24273/its-going-to-be-a-long-hard-run-in-–-notes-for-doncaster
Now of course football fans are not always fair and – especially on forums – are prone to exaggeration. So the point here is not to be unduly harsh on a young player, but to provide some balance to the preposterous implicit claim from Andrew Dickson that the fans can expect to see Cafu bombing up and down the wing.
my question at 8.55am was not rhetorical BTW,[over 50 t/u]so feel free to express yourself.