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Showing content with the highest reputation on 25/01/18 in all areas

  1. That from McInally is one of the best managerial interviews I've ever read. He goes in two footed, then gets back up and stamps on his opponent, then douses him with petrol and sets him alight.
    30 points
  2. With reference to my previous point about the ridiculous argumentsand the architects of the plan clearly not believing them, I'm enjoying the sheer brazenness of some of it. I love the statistic about 37% of players in Scotland teams at U19 level and below not making it to the under-21s, and the fact that those players who fall away 'tend to come from Rangers and Celtic and are replaced with lesser potential Scottish talent who are playing 1st team football at a smaller club where they may access the 1st team earlier' Let's unpack that quote. You'll note the lack of statistics used to support the claim that most of these players come from the OF, despite the extremely specific claim about the numbers not progressing. However, if we accept this claim despite the lack of evidence, what does that say? Supposedly the players taking their places have 'lesser potential' [citation needed and I'd love to see them establish it] but are taking places ahead of OF players because they're getting first team football already. There's a few facets to that. How many players in the under 21s who are getting first team football are doing so in League Two? If the answer is none, how will putting the Celtic and Rangers players into League Two make any difference? If the OF players are indeed more capable than those playing first team football elsewhere but fail to deliver on their potential due to lack of first team football, why are Rangers and Celtic denying them first team football? Maybe the solution to that problem is to force them to select a certain number of young Scots in their squad? Maybe just loan them out to Championship or even other Premiership clubs where they can get first team football at a higher level than League Two? Or maybe Celtic and Rangers could stop hoarding youngsters who have no chance of progressing to their first teams in the first place if the only thing holding them back is a lack of first team football? Jamie Lindsay of Celtic played for Scotland up to under-19 level but failed to progress to the under 21s despite that and is now 22. He has had two Championship loan spells and now a Premiership one. Would he be a better player and knocking on the door of the national team now if he'd been playing for nothing in a League Two team for the last two and a half seasons rather than spending them at a far higher level, working under different managers, learning alongside more experienced players and experiencing real competitive football with two of his loan spells putting him in a relegation battle and the other in a promotion challenge? No, he obviously wouldn't. On the flip side, he's obviously never going to make it at Celtic anyway, so why do they still have him on their books? How is the only solution to improve Jamie Lindsay and every other Old Firm youth product throwing a team into League Two rather than guaranteeing him first team football at a higher level, whether that's through giving him some first team time at Celtic, sending him on loan or just letting him leave entirely? It's almost as if what's best for the development of the player has absolutely f**k all to do with this proposal. Alternatively, maybe Old Firm players not realising their potential isn't the issue at all, and in fact those playing at U19 level fail to progress to U21s because they're not actually the best players at that level? Maybe they've got the whole thing the wrong way round and the fact so many more Rangers & Celtic players are in the U19s than U21s isn't evidence that Rangers & Celtic players are failing to realise their potential and we need to do something to help them realise it, but is evidence that we're picking players with less potential at U19 level because they play for Rangers or Celtic and are ignoring more talented players at smaller clubs, as our scouting of players at that age just isn't good enough? A crazy suggestion I know, but if the boot fits. On the drop off in results from U19 and below to U21 for the national team; maybe this has nothing to do with the players moving from those levels getting first team football? Maybe there's an inherent issue with coaching players in that age group in this country? Maybe under 19 level and below throws up more anomalies in results as it's level where the majority of players have never experienced first team football? I honestly have no idea, but I certainly don't think making a change for changes sake at an entirely unrelated level of the game is the answer. I'm merely speculating at points throughout this post, but I've got as much evidence for it as anyone advocating B teams in League Two has for their back of a fag packet proposals. Fire every single one of them into the sun.
    20 points
  3. Peterhead manager Jim McInally has revealed Celtic’s head of youth could not list a single benefit for League Two clubs if Old Firm colt teams join the league. It emerged at the weekend that Celtic and Rangers are trying to force through plans which would see their colts, or under-20s teams, play in League Two from next season. The Old Firm clubs believe it would benefit their youngsters and enhance youth development, and have been sounding out League Two clubs in recent weeks to try to gain support. However, McInally has revealed that Chris McCart, head of youth at Parkhead, and the man charged with trying to make these proposals a reality for the Hoops, could not name a single benefit of the idea for League Two clubs. Blue Toon boss McInally said: “Chris McCart phoned me the week before last and I told him I have absolutely no time for the whole idea. “I don’t see what any League Two club would have to benefit with having them in the league. “I said to Chris McCart ‘what benefit has the colts coming into League Two got for Peterhead?’ “And he admitted to me none – and that sums it up, that there is nothing for the League Two clubs in this proposal. “I would like to clarify that this is my opinion and not the opinion of the club, because that is something they will need to discuss. “I don’t see why we should need to try to do Celtic and Rangers’ work for them – where we are trying to improve their kids. “Well, what benefit is that to any lower league club? “In my opinion they are bullies and they are trying to bully their way into the league. “I don’t mind admitting I’m a Celtic supporter, but I have absolutely no intention of trying to help them bring on their youngsters ahead of everybody else’s youngsters. “It’s wrong that it’s just Celtic and Rangers, but it would still be wrong if it was Aberdeen and Dundee United trying to do it or Hearts and Hibs. “It totally demeans the league, them coming in. “As much as people support Celtic and Rangers, the people who support Peterhead, Montrose, Clyde, Elgin and others support their team every bit as much and every bit as passionately as Celtic and Rangers supporters support their team. “It really annoys me that Scottish football can’t see through this – for me this should have been blown out without even getting this far.” For the idea to be passed it would need at least 22 of the SPFL’s 42 clubs to vote for it. It was reported that seven out of 10 League Two clubs are apparently in favour of it after a meeting held last week with McCart and Rangers’ development chief, Craig Mulholland. McInally is not convinced by the reports of the meeting and added: “I know that is being claimed but I don’t think it has happened. “But they have been contacting clubs and I have heard there are chairmen who think it is a wonderful idea. “For me that is who the supporters have got to put pressure on – the boards. “To hear people are in favour of it is really, really worrying. “It’s shocking to think that’s how small-minded the powers that be are at football clubs in League Two.” League Two clubs are being offered £15,000 a season, with the Hoops and Gers promising to buy 250 tickets at £10 a ticket each visit. McInally believes that cash won’t have much impact on League Two clubs and reckons if colts teams did play in League Two they would lose regularly, as has been the case in the Irn-Bru Cup in the last two seasons. He added: “I just think it would be really small minded of League Two clubs to accept such a paltry offer which basically turns into £15,000 each over a season. “I guarantee that at Peterhead we would lose support if the proposals go through. I would hope supporters of all League Two clubs would boycott their clubs if they think this is the way ahead. “This isn’t healthy for lower league clubs. “I don’t know what it has to do with Project Brave – which it’s apparently attached to. People have been quoted saying it would back-up Project Brave – who cares about Project Brave? “At the end of the day if Celtic and Rangers want to improve Scottish football they should stop signing so many foreign players for a start. “They should cut down the amount of young players they are bringing into their clubs. “A key thing for me is that if they want their young players to play against men, they need to remember they also need to play with men. “That’s not going to happen with the colts in League Two. “The Challenge Cup in my opinion has been an embarrassment for the colts teams, they’ve been beaten time after time. “I said to Chris McCart that I understand he has a job to do “But certainly I will do my best to get support from supporters of all League Two clubs to make sure they give their boards a hard time if they approve this. “I wouldn’t think £15,000 will change any club’s financial situation because I’m sure somewhere along the line they’ll lose £15,000 if they support this idea.” As a former youth coach with Celtic, McInally has experience of developing players. And he believes a return to a reserve league, where young players play alongside senior pros, is the way forward. “I’m speaking from experience and my opinion is that the whole youth system needs to change,” he said. “And I don’t think them trying to bully their way into League Two is the answer to the problems Celtic and Rangers have. “In my opinion they need to get back to a proper reserve league, and by that I mean a reserve league where your young players are mixing and playing with your senior players. “Chris McCart told me he didn’t think that would be possible – he never gave an argument on why he didn’t think that would be possible – because at the end of the day the reserve league was stopped because it was costing clubs money. “But I’m pretty sure if Celtic and Rangers want to throw their money about they could do it by helping to organise a proper reserve league. “Celtic can only play 11 first-team players on a Saturday and they’ve got a squad of about 25. “So they have plenty of players who could go and give their experience and play with their younger players.”
    15 points
  4. Fucking hilarious. Because Rangers and Celtic are a bunch of glory hunting b*****ds who heap massive amounts of pressure on their board and team to win every week, we're supposed to reinvent the leagues to allow their poor wee boys some competitive game time. Get tae absolute f**k. Because Rangers and Celtic hoard all the fucking talent in the country and can't possibly loan them all out or give them all game time (because of the point made above) we're expected to reinvent the leagues to allow their poor wee boys some competitive game time. Get tae absolute f**k. Loan your players out or bring back the reserve league - in absolutely no universe is league reconstruction required to shoe-horn these c***s in and nor is there any evidence to suggest that this markedly improves the performance of a National team - it's all just fucking nonsense.
    11 points
  5. For as little as £10 per month you can help me achieve a transfer to the team I supported as a boy girl for an undisclosed fee.
    10 points
  6. I don't think Annan (or many others) would oppose Rangers or Celtic putting a B team in the South of Scotland league, or any other league at that level, with the same restrictions that currently apply to the Annan and Stranraer teams at that level (no promotion etc). Jumping the queue and entering the fourth tier, screwing up the organised structure of the league in the process, is a bit different.
    10 points
  7. Harsh, yet fair account on Gary.
    9 points
  8. Out of everything that is absolutely terrible about the proposal - which includes the grammar, you'd think someone would proofread a document of such importance - my favourite part of it is invoking Norway as an example of B Teams working successfully. Norway! That's the only country they've used as an example who can actually be reasonably compared to Scotland in a footballing context, bearing in mind the vast populations and therefore resources of the others relative to Scotland. What a great example Norway is of B teams improving the national team, considering that they haven't qualified for a tournament since Euro 2000, one of only four they've made in their history. Their attempts to dress this up as being for the good of the national team are ridiculously transparent. Obviously anyone who knows anything about anything knows that this couldn't possibly make any difference to how Scotland perform, but it would genuinely be less annoying if those proposing the change were just so stupid that they actually believe it. In reality, they know fine well it will do nothing to benefit the national team but are making up ridiculous arguments to claim it's all for the good of the national team anyway. That's not to say a proposal that actually was for the good of the national team would justify destroying the lower leagues like this, of course.
    9 points
  9. The good brothers at Annan Athletic have rejected the proposal - CLICK.
    9 points
  10. We missed Moussa's hold up play last night, IMO. He's shite in front of goal, granted, but he's capable of bringing the ball down, holding off a challenge and taking it away. We had nobody last night who could do that.
    8 points
  11. I, for one, am shocked Gordon Waddell's employers can't tell one Falkirk player from another.
    8 points
  12. But there are small clubs from small towns at a high level - there is no incentive to invest in a Junior side as there is no prospect of the investment being recouped because of the almost total lack of prize money (without qualification for the Scottish Cup). Who knows who is out there and would be willing to put money into a side but can see zero point doing it at Junior level? Why? Because it's a complete lottery whether or not anything other than the result will make national press. People can mock Brechin, Alloa, Dumbarton etc but these are clubs with much higher profile than any Junior team, with much bigger budgets and with better long-term prospects.
    8 points
  13. "Eric, the fans are raging on PnB again . They're fuming because you're pointing the blame at them again, this time because Gary told the press we didn't get a fee for Bates" "It is their fault! Cannae stand in the lad's way, eh? Why won't they fund the youth team so we can develop more players for their boyhood clubs?" "What are we going to do about Gary? That's 12 games without a win now...and he's landed us in the shit with the Bates deal" "Ah, Lockey...what's he like, eh?! And the fans can't see his plan and want him out as well, the morons!" "Eric, can you imagine a world where you didn't blame the fans for absolutely everything?" Eric:
    7 points
  14. 25 January: Danny Amankwaa signs for Hearts 27 January: Danny Amankwaa is "lazy"
    6 points
  15. I hope the Arbroath FC board are a strong NO on the proposal for old Firm colts teams in League 2. It’s a terrible idea.
    6 points
  16. That's not what is said on the link. They disagree with the current proposal, which is dumping colt sides into L2. I see no real inconsistency on the South of Scotland League point... If Rangers & Celtic want to apply for vacant unoccupied spaces in the bottom tier of the pyramid, debarred from promotion to the Lowland League, playing home games at Ibrox & Parkhead, using local amateur players from Govan & the East End, they're welcome to try: afterall Stranraer didn't try to put theirs into SPFL2 under "special conditions".
    6 points
  17. Absolutely terrible idea. Even if Hearts Colts were involved in this, I'd be against it on principle. No-one wants to watch their first team playing against Colt sides although I doubt the SFA have considered the opinions of lower league fans in this (or any non-Old Firm fans for that matter). Why would young players benefit more playing in League Two than going on the usual loans to higher divisions? Why do the Old Firm Colts get to go straight into League Two when there are non-league clubs further down the pyramid having to win their league and go through two sets of playoff matches just to get into the league? Absolutely no chance any of this will improve the national team. All of this is being done to benefit the Old Firm and certainly not to benefit Scottish football as a whole.
    5 points
  18. 5 points
  19. What annoys me about some of these club statements are them saying "we need to look at the proposal in detail before making a decision". No you fucking don't. You either think your club is here to compete or it's here to serve the needs of two big clubs. It really should be that fucking simple for every single board.
    5 points
  20. I reckon he'll stll be absolutely class in league 1. Feet just don't go as fast as his brain anymore and gets caught out at this level.
    5 points
  21. David Bowie - V2 Schneider
    5 points
  22. More from Jim McInally - https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/sport/football/scottish-football/peterhead-boss-slams-colts-idea-from-old-firm-clubs-he-says-are-out-to-bully-way-in/
    5 points
  23. Haber is absolute fucking garbage. It's a toss-up between him and Moussa for me, both utterly terrible football players. El Bahk is a clueless wee laddie that's out of his depth. AJLS has shown signs, does a job IMO. Wighton is rumoured to be nearly back in contention, make or break few months for him at Dundee I reckon. Long story short, we're fucked up front and are crying out for a proven striker — need to get that sorted in the next 5 days or so... Thank you.
    5 points
  24. This is a proposal only at the moment, as the Annan statement makes clear, albeit a serious one which requires full consideration. It has not reached the status of a formal SPFL submission which would necessitate a club vote. I am not aware of any positive responses from any of the Blue Brazil Directors and/ or club officeholders ( including CC ). It is right and proper that all pros and cons should be examined. In my capacity as Club President, I do not favour the proposal. My principal objection is to any club buying a place in any of the SPFL Leagues, creating an awkward and totally unwelcome precedent for football in Scotland.
    5 points
  25. This absolute cuntery which is a regular occurrence in my work.
    5 points
  26. I'll drive him to Liverpool myself. Re: Mark Kerr, I really do cringe at the stuff posted on Facebook on the official page regarding the decision to release him. As I am sure everyone on here or anyone who actually goes to the games is aware... Kerr should of gone a season and a half ago. A terrific servant but his time was up. Hartleys "lost the respect of the players" being the best so far...
    5 points
  27. I wouldn't fancy doing it, but it does take some guts and intelligence to try. If you asked me to name three geniuses, I wouldn't say Einstein, Newton. I'd go Milligan, Cleese, Everett. Sessions.
    5 points
  28. Poor show from Labour all this. Smacks of them trying to appease old firm fans and try to act like they are doing this on behalf of the poor discriminated bigots. How dare the nasty Nats criminalise football fans for criminal behaviour at a football game, shocking. This is cynical by Scottish Labour, a party who are supposedly anti-prejudice and anti-bigotry. No surprise that the biggest cheerleaders for this appears to be the Celtic fans who seem to believe singing about the IRA is perfectly acceptable, but singing anti-Catholic shite isn't. The ones who don't seem to get that both are wrong and shouldn't have a place in our game.
    4 points
  29. Mark Knopfler - Speedway At Nazareth
    4 points
  30. They’d fall out on the journey, throbber trying to put radio one on in shandon’s car while granny gets angry about the lack of werthers. It’s a good idea but it’s doomed from the off.
    4 points
  31. Greg Docherty, you let your club die.
    4 points
  32. Well if Graeme Smith can make a living out of it.....
    4 points
  33. Bobby Vee - The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
    4 points
  34. 4 points
  35. This one's a bit of a cliche, but if you get the right conditions, and can be fucked getting up early enough, early morning on Rannoch Moor is glorious. This is about a 500 yard walk from the A82 at the Bridge at Lochan na h-Achlaise
    4 points
  36. The Fall - Crap Rap 2/Like To Blow (that's Mark E Smith gone)
    4 points
  37. Agree with this entirely. He's not what McCann wants from a striker, his movement and pressing is dreadful. Moussa, despite his short comings, is better for McCanns style of play than Haber. Best team for me is still: Parish (who's really impressed me) Kerr Meekings Hendry Jon McGowan Kamara Ohara Allan AJLS Moussa Another striker in this window would be perfect. Real business end of the season coming up for Dundee that could see us clear of safety and chasing top 6 or fighting with Patrick and County for he play off spots. Hamilton - W County - W Patrick - W Motherwell - D That would see us on 32 points with County having played rangers and Aberdeen and Hearts potentially 12 points behind and then playing thistle. Still feeling positive as I thought Dundee show enough last night against a good hibs side - if I'm being honest a draw was as much as you could have expected last night.
    3 points
  38. Wishing Jeff Strasser a speedy recovery, incidentally the FCK fans are over this weekend for our game at Pittodrie....... A Bundesliga 2 game between Darmstadt and Kaiserslautern was abandoned due to a "medical emergency" involving Kaiserslautern boss Jeff Strasser. The two teams had played out a goalless first half when former Luxembourg defender Strasser, 43, was taken ill. "We are all reminded on days like today that there are more important things than football," said Darmstadt president Rudiger Fritsch. Kaiserslautern tweeted that Strasser had been taken to hospital. Strasser has been in charge of Kaiserslautern since September. He played for Kaiserslautern as a defender during his career. His other former clubs include Borussia Monchengladbach and Metz.
    3 points
  39. "So tell me Mr Drysdale did you personally handle the negotiations with the Rangers board to ensure you got the best possible deal for your club when Bates moved to Ibrox " "Na I got someone to cover for me during the negotiations"
    3 points
  40. David Lee Roth - Just Like Paradise
    3 points
  41. Subway Sect - Chain Smoking
    3 points
  42. any chance that's all the Simpson's pish over and done with ?
    3 points
  43. Falkingham: "Dougie Hill strangled me at Stark's." "How many people on this panel are thinking of strangling him right now?" "Be honest..."
    3 points
  44. Gentleman, there’s a simple solution here. Get the royal family to f**k. Simple.
    3 points
  45. The Saracens comparison is weak because they have moved at least a dozen times in their history, with the move to Barnet from Watford's ground a few years ago being the most recent. You also bring up the fact that they are the current (back-to-back) European rugby champions, which you then seem to brush past when you declare that "Saracens are sold out every home game." If Aberdeen were enjoying such success (let's be realistic and scale it down to back-to-back champions of Scotland), they would be selling out every week at Kingsford too. However, such success is extremely unlikely in the current climate of Scottish football. Having looked at the shuttle buses that they run, these take approximately 6/7 minutes from three relatively nearby train stations. Two of these stations are a half hour's walk from the stadium if you so wished to do so. It is essentially the equivalent of a hypothetical train station at Westhill that ran trains from Aberdeen as frequently as the London Underground does, followed by a 5 minute shuttle bus to Kingsford itself. So to compare the situation with Kingsford, Saracens' ground has: - About 5 or 6 nearby stations, on different lines and branches of the tube (one of the most frequent underground rail systems in the world) - Shuttle buses that take 6-7 minutes from 3 of these stations - 2 train stations within 30 minutes walking distance of the stadium - Hosting a team who are champions of Europe Kingsford will have: - No nearby train stations, meaning that the only feasible transport options will be bus or car - Shuttle buses that carry approximately 5000 fans on a (without taking traffic into account) 20 minute journey from the city centre to the ground - The two nearest train stations (Dyce and Aberdeen) being a 2 hour and 10 minute walk to the ground - Hosting a team who seem destined to be perennial runners up in Scotland at best
    3 points
  46. This is exactly it. It's exactly what I put in my email to the club, and it's exactly what I put on our Facebook group back in July when we were drawn against Rangers U20s. Beating Annan to win the Third Division title in 08/09 was my favourite day in football. I flitted in and out of love with it when I was younger - mainly because we were fairly gubbins, and that's difficult to take for an eight year old! Me, my brother, my Dad, my Granda and my Papa all squeezed into the same car. Three generations of Sons fan (although my Granda does have strong feelings for a certain Glasgow team...). As an 11 year old the players were my heroes, I can still name the team off by heart (McEwan, Lennon, Boyle, Dunlop, Gordon, Clark, McStay, Forbes, McLaughlin, Carcary, Murray), looking back it's one of those moments where time seemed to stand still. I can still remember what I did in the morning before the game, the journey down (it rained just as we got beyond Lesmahagow), my Granda had his scarf out the window and I was terrified it would blow away. I remember where I stood in each half. I remember the announcer saying "Could the owner of a VW Passat..." then tailing off as we scored. I remember getting my picture taken post-match with Derek Carcary, then at the Rock with Stevie Murray and the trophy itself. I remember David McEwan signing songs about Danny Lennon. Lets re-write it for 20 years time, when (if) I'm taking my own kids to watch us win a title. We're playing Rangers B (which they will be by this point) at Auchenhowie. There are no home fans, we win 3-1 to win the title by finishing FIFTH (behind Hearts, Hibs, Rangers and Celtic B). There are few Sons fans left, the players are wasting their time in a competitive reserve league. We get the trophy outside the Rangers training centre. A trophy. For coming fifth. Imagine being a kid and going in to school all delighted that your team have won the league (like I was back in 09) to tell the OF supporting masses that you actually finished behind their reserves. Apologies for going all emotional there. I just love writing about that team.
    3 points
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