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Easy now. Nobody was fired, although 3 employees were moved into lesser roles more suited to their limited skill set. These movements had been planned for a while and were in no way a response to the pandemic. The boss was 80% certain who the three were and so decided to pull the trigger based on underperformance during the last 9 months, rejecting their claims that they were just really honestly totally about to up their performance levels to a level that they simply haven’t shown any ability to perform to. The boss did give them an opportunity to put forward a different plan for company restructuring, but the best they could think of was to hire two new employees and expand the company, with everyone taking an unspecified pay cut. There was some support from those whose potential pay rises had been suspended but they incredibly forgot to call all the lower league employees to get their opinion. Oh, and a representative of one of the employees suggested about 1000 times that they all should just turn up and work anyway, even though the government have instructed the company to temporarily stop trading.

"The whole thing is ludicrous and a scandal," says Hearts captain Steven Naismith of the club's relegation after the Scottish Premiership season was curtailed because of coronavirus. The thing that is ludicrous and a scandal is the fact that Hearts won only 4 games out of 30 and collected a total of 23 points, with one of the highest paid squads in the Premiership. But why don’t you just ignore that Steven.

I entirely agree that people have to get the opportunity to reflect on mistakes they've made and learn more about the issues at hand as part of a healthy discourse. The points about academics raised by JTS98 are certainly worth considering. You're using the example of JK Rowling though. This didn't begin with Rowling making one comment and immediately having a braying mob demanding all Harry Potter books and merchandise be thrown on a pyre. She makes one comment, people respond respectfully with why they disagree and the facts supporting their argument, she makes another comment, the same thing happens, people point out why this contribution could be harmful. You get months of doubling down while refusing to engage in good faith with honest disagreement until she's descending into a Linehan level spiral crossing the line into outright bigotry, leading people to a position best summarised as 'you've got no interest in engaging with facts or evidence so I've no interest in engaging with you'. When those people say f**k this, conclude she's a bigot, decide they won't support her work any more and tell her so, she then complains on the platform where she's speaking to tens of millions of people on a daily basis that her freedom of speech is being attacked. That isn't someone not getting the opportunity to reflect or better themselves because of the braying mob wanting to instantly silence anyone who disagrees with them. That's someone with no interest in engaging in an issue in good faith, throwing vulnerable people under the bus then trying to shut down any criticism of their position by accusing those criticising of intolerance. It's the 'so much for the tolerant left' meme being played out in real life. All while using their influential platform to attack one of the most vulnerable groups of society and encourage hatred of them. That's not someone having their freedom of speech undermined by "cancel culture", that's someone who wants freedom from the consequences of their speech. I should have the right to my freedom of speech but when someone disagrees with me they have no right to use theirs in response, and if any of you plebs dare to do so I will continue to use my social media account followed by millions, widely promoted radio or TV appearances or highly paid newspaper column to complain how disgusting it is that you've taken my freedom of speech away.

"We weren't actually relegated from the top flight, we were unfairly expelled due to self interest from the other 40 clubs. They should have found a resolution that suited our self interests."

Whether he turns out to be a sensation or ends up being a total jobber, I am absolutely here for this.

The last 300 pages of this thread summed up in one sentence.

That is wrong for a start. The French Prime Minister, you know the head of the French Government, states categorically that there would be NO SPORTING EVENTS INDOORS OR OUTDOORS until September. This means that no matter the one club still threatening court action does, the league cannot be finished. The only reason the French situation was passed back by the courts originally was that there had been no vote. There now has been a vote and 74.49% voted NO to expanding the league. Again like Scotland, pretty cut and dried. As as been pointed out until everyone is driven demented stating this fact, excuse my bluntness. With regards what other countries are doing, who gives a f**k?? It is completely an utterly irrelevant. As quite frankly what foreign countries with different legal systems do with their courts, completely f**k all relevance to us. Our administrative authorities, Scot Gov in Edinburgh, banned us from playing football, the medical opinion at the time, and Government rumblings was, there may be no football untill 2021. Our football clubs COULD NOT AFFORD to hang on untill then without their money from league. SPFL put forward.a proposal agreed by 81% (EIGHTY ONE PERCENT) of clubs. If it was a poor resolution they could have voted it down and proposed something different. 81% of clubs did not think this way and voted for the resolution. A few weeks later the Premiership was called.as the Government & medical opinion was it could not be played. As it turns out with UEFA's 3rd of August deadline and Scottish Government not allowing games to finish this, it definitely would not have been possible, see Northern Ireland situation. Again I could not give one flying iota of a f**k about France, England, Belgium,Italy, Croatia, Sweden, Turkey, Guatemala, Argentina etc. I am only concerned with Scotland, SFA and SPFL & what they have been allowed to do by Scottish Government. Have SPFL and SFA rules been followed. From my point of view they have. Whether you agree with those rules that is a separate issue. All other not Scottish situations can f**k off, once fucked off, f**k off some more back to the corner of "fucking irrelevance" BTW I'm sure this will be red dotted too by the Phantom Red Dotter himself. Bring it on!

Alan Nixon’s identity has been officially confirmed then. It’s...

Ha, I just find it bizarre that it seems to be quite a mainstream view that the SPFL have shown absolutely zero leadership throughout (Hiya Tom). It just isn't true. If we start playing football again on 1 August, in front of crowds not too long after and have 42 clubs still standing at the end of it then they've done not too bad. I don't want to champion them too much as I have plenty of criticisms but folk like Naismith clearly don't really know what they're on about.

Indeed, there is never any credible solution offered. You can't just brand everything a shambles because the outcome doesn't suit you. I remember listening to Sportsound at the very start of this, before any decisions had been taken and I think it was Darryl Broadfoot who went through just about every scenarios i.e. null and void, ending the leagues, and for every single outcome there was huge barriers. I remember thinking then that the chaos we've seen would definitely happen because there was simply no answer that avoided some raging clubs. Whilst the process has been extremely painful, I'd say the underlying result is as good as we could have hoped: - Leagues settled, European places decided - Settlement with BT and Sky over previous TV deals - preservation of new Sky deal, including giving clubs the right to stream BCD games - Football starting again in August - Clubs got access to prize money relatively early, were able to at least manage their way through the summer, make decisions regarding player contracts etc etc - Agreement on how to not completely mothball the lower leagues next season - A managed return to training scheme that has so far been successful, whilst we still don't have a set in stone return to football date. - A possibility of the Scottish cup being completed - An agreed return for the Betfred cup I think broadly the results above are pretty decent given the unprecedented circumstances. There is work to be done, sponsorship is key in the coming weeks and we'll see how BCD games go but to call the entire thing a shambles is unfair. There are clearly some significant lessons to be learned, however.

Agreed. Scottish football is shite because my team is being relegated is definitely a grown up, well formed point of view.

GIUY

Apart from the exact % going to strathcarron I don’t see a problem with the ST offer. The club do a lot of good work for the charity and this is another great gesture, imo. No matter how small the donation is, it’ll be greatly appreciated by Strathcarron. Just needs a little bit more clarity. With regards to the prices, I know of fans who have been unfortunate due to this pandemic and are glad there is a cheaper option.

He probably means the 11 that finished above them.

Always the one that’s pushed to the forefront of Hearts argument is that every other team is acting in self interest apart from Hearts. I’m not sure how that works. And here he is in the same interview saying that we have too many teams but wanting Brora and Kelty brought in to increase that number by two. Somebody also needs to tell him that the SPFL board is actually appointed by the clubs.

Starting to see a lot of this where government advisors of all sorts seem to be very publicly misinterpreting their roles and instead representing themselves as decision makers. Leitch is there to advise Sturgeon on medical topics, but he is ultimately not the person who makes the decisions. Therefore I have no idea why he constantly makes statements about what will or will not happen in the future - it's not up to him. Just been on Twitter and seen another government advisor contradicting a Chris McLaughlin/BBC story that the SPFL and Scottish Rugby hope to have limited fans within stadia within weeks by talking about the current government routemap. Again, you are not privy to the discussions being had between any of those organisations and the people in government who actually make the decisions, so stop pretending to be. As much as I think McLaughlin is an overly credulous clown, he is not going to be reporting this if the person feeding him the story doesn't think there is some truth in it.

Is that the one with the huge crack down the middle?

I don't think the Rovers thread has had so many fans of other clubs commenting since the day we played Ryan Stevenson in goals.

I for one am sick of that pair hamming it up

The attitude of the likes of me? What, like encouraging my team from the start instead of condemning them to defeat before a ball is kicked? Embarrassing and childlike? Yeah because booing every touch is mature and makes you look cool. How on earth did being a so called 'happy clapper' lead us to our demise? If anything it was more to do with the toxic atmosphere at Dens when things aren't going so well. The board might not be perfect but they are the most stable I have seen in nearly 40 years. I would rather be a 'happy clapper' than a miserable doom merchant like you.

With Airdrie's signing of Laurent Robert's boy, we must have a decent shout for a 'do you know who my Da/Cousin/Uncle is' famous XI: I'll compile it based not on ability but how famous in fitba terms the relative is. Due to the number and popularity of suggestions - I've added a Scottish XI to keep them separate from the lads coming from foreign shores giving it 'my old man won the World/European Cup, so I'm great anaw!' A few points: Same surnames only - Christopher Wreh (who had a decent couple years himself) was George Weah's cousin but he's not considered. Diego Maradona's boy doesn't count, he only had a trial with Clyde in the early 2000s The international XI: GK - Kasper Schmeichel (Falkirk) - Son of Peter Schmeichel LB - Willy Aubameyang (Kilmarnock) - half brother of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (NB: Not sure he's a left back but Wiki lists him as a defender, so he's there for now) RB - Tom Hateley (Motherwell, Dundee) - Son of Mark Hateley CB - Anton Ferdinand (St. Mirren) - Brother of Rio Ferdinand, nephew of Les Ferdinand CB - Collin Seedorf (Inverness) Cousin of Clarence Seedorf. RM - Oan Djorkaeff (St. Mirren) - Son of Youri Djorkaeff LM - Rodney Sneijder (Dundee Utd) - Brother of Wesley Sneijder CM - Ianis Hagi (Rangers) - Son of Georghe Hagi CM - Matias Pogba (Partick Thistle) - Brother of Paul Pogba CF - Devante Cole (Motherwell) - Son of Andy Cole CF - Timothy Weah (Celtic) - Son of George Weah Subs and Squad players: Thomas Robert - (Airdrie) - Son of Laurent Robert Sherwin Seedorf (Motherwell) - 'Distant relation' to Clarence Seedorf Sam Stubbs (Hamilton) - Son of Allan Stubbs Markus Fjortoft (Hamilton) - Son of Jan Aage Fjortoft Niall Keown (Partick Thistle, St. Johnstone) - Son of Martin Keown John Sutton ( Motherwell, Hearts, Raith, Morton, St. Mirren, Dundee, St. Johnstone) - Brother of Chris Sutton The Scottish XI GK - Jonathan Gould (Celtic) - Son of Bobby Gould LB RB - Jackie McNamara (Dunfermline, Celtic, Aberdeen, Falkirk, Partick Thistle) - Son of Jackie McNamara Sr. CB - Ryan O'Leary (Aberdeen, Dundee, Kilmarnock) - nephew of David O'Leary CB - Sergei Baltacha (St. Mirren) - Son of Sergei Baltacha Sr. LM RM CM - Chris McStay (Clyde) - Son of Paul McStay CM - Gavin Strachan (Motherwell, Dundee, Ross County) - Son of Gordon Strachan CF - Paul Dalglish (Hibs, Livingston, Kilmarnock) - Son of Kenny Dalglish CF - Callum Hendry (St Johnstone) - Son of Colin Hendry Subs and Squad players Peter Grant Jr. (Falkirk, Morton, Queen's Park) - Son of Peter Grant Ian Gilzean (Dundee, Ayr, Montrose) - Son of Alan Gilzean Paul Chalmers (St. Mirren, Dunfermline, Hamilton, Celtic, East Fife, Ayr) - Son of Stevie Chalmers Joe McBride (Hibs, Dundee, East Fife, Livingston, Albion) - Son of Joe McBride Sr. Others who aren't getting in to either squad for various reasons.: The rest of the McStays. Too many generations of them, you could start a new squad with just McStays. Paul could be in it himself cos of his uncles. The McGinns. - Both younger and had made careers in their own right before John, they weren't living on the family name. If either ends up at Aston Villa, I will revise. The Fergusons. The de Boers - both too famous in their own right before Rangers. Brian Laudrup - too famous in his own right. Pierce O'Leary - Ryan O'leary is already in a squad. Gerry and Joe Baker - both stars of their era in their own right, neither lived off the other's name Dick and Ian Campbell Sone Aluko - Has a professional footballer for a sister but not living off the name. We'd heard of him before his sister, who is fucking horrible Tory. Gavin Skelton - Though his sister, I agree, is a wid. He'd get a shout at the International XI bench if Blue Peter had a fitba team. Scott Gemmill - Prime candidate and ticks every box apart from somehow never actually playing in Scotland's leagues. Baldur Bett - Would have got in off the back of Jim Bett had he opted to play for Scotland but as he's Icelandic, Jim's star power cant get him as place in the international squad. Players whose family members aren't famous enough: Rod Wallace Shota Arveladze Alex Gogic Dan Redmond Max Christie Jason Cummings' cousin who folk don't know his name! Stevie Mallan Ross Millen Ryan Christie Dean Sheils Expelled sine die for pretending to have a famous family member: Nigel Hasselbaink - (Hamilton, St. Mirren, St. Johnstone) - Pretending to be the nephew of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink... the wee arsehole. Who have I missed? Get your suggestions in. The more obscure the better.

This is just my own view on the gym - I know it is of course the case that I can do the same/similar exercises at home or outside in my garden but it’s like trying to decide between live football and watching football on the TV. Not a chance I’m choosing watching football on TV over going to a game. It’s so much more than the ‘thing’ you are wanting to do. Yes you are technically taking part in the same experience but actually going to the gym is a big deal for me in terms of my mental health and what I get out of it. Being able to use the other facilities like steam rooms and the pool or being able to sit and have a drink or some food afterwards in the building also adds to that. I’ve always struggled to replicate the feeling of gym based exercise by doing the same at home. It’s definitely a mental health thing for me as much as a physical thing (as is going to the football, which is also becoming a real struggle). I understand why the government are still hesitant about gyms but I really hope we are in a position by the start of August to get them open.

Exactly, the Gorgie faithful have all had a bout of amnesia, on how they found themselves sitting bottom of the table with the 3rd biggest budget in the league. No recriminations for Ann Budge, it wasn't the big bad SPFL's fault that Hearts were underperforming and stinking up the Premiership all season. It wasn't the SPFL's fault Budge couldn't come up with a half decent reconstruction proposal to save their useless arses from a relegation their piss poor performances left them in. Picking fights with the very people she was pinning her hopes on for saving Hearts also wasn't the SPFL's fault. As well as forgetting about all their failings on and off the pitch this season, they also seem to have forgotten how Budge claimed poverty and threatened players with pay cuts or the sack, but is now awash with cash to spend on legal fees and paying out compo to sign a new manager, as well as signing a keeper from Celtic. What a right kick in the baws that must be to the players that were forced into taking wages cuts. Ann can do no wrong now though, she's bullet proof now she's found a villain to blame everything on.

If Budge firmly believes that its for the benefit of Scottish football to have less teams, shes more than welcome to fold Hearts altogether. One less club to worry about and the rest of scottish football can see if it works or not

I'm genuinely worried now. Watching and posting multiple videos by some outrider of the Intellectual Dark Web about how structural racism isn't real is pretty much the clearest indicator that someone is being radicalised by the right. Not trolling, you are down the rabbit hole.

Hi all... as you'll see, we've just launched the #SonsSeasonTicketPledge, with 100 days to go before the planned League One re-start. https://www.dumbartonfootballclub.com/news/?mode=view&id=4472 Until now, following questions from fans and our announcement back in May, we'd been holding STs for all existing holders and a few others who'd said they'd buy one when the restart happens. Now we're asking for what is in effect a £10 deposit. That will help the Club with the costs of preparation for 17th October. It's non-refundable, but will be dedicated from the cost of the ticket when the campaign starts. We obviously can't announce prices yet, but the hope and aim is to keep them in the same price bracket as before. Note that we can only release 300 tickets to start with, because we have to assume at this stage that if we are playing in front of fans (as we desperately want to), social distancing and health precautions will be required. The Sons Season Ticket Pledge is in response to all those (huge thank you!) who've said they'd like to help out. But, as before, we don't think it's right to take the full whack off people who are probably struggling with their own bills until everything is tied-up re. the new season. Cheers everyone!

Interesting, if we accept the arguement made by TNS then we would have to wind back to the point where each team had played each other twice. Which would make Celtic Champions and Relegate Hearts

Quite a few people have questioned their origins because that's step 1 of the right-wing playbook. Dig up some dirt, discredit them, find the most extreme things any of them have said and pretend that's what they all believe. Throw in a few references to "communist" or "marxist" and you can be home in time for tea. It's the same routine whenever time the police murder a black civilian. The right-wing immediately start hunting for anything to show the victim was a bad person, had a criminal record, fought back, didn't do as he was told. Anything at all to shift the blame onto the victim.

I'm very thankful for all these Hearts supporters coming on here and presenting fresh and original points for us to pore over.

TABLE NOTES... DP - Deducted Points NUMBERS (LEAGUE GAMES ONLY)... Games played - 9,295 Goals scored - 35,081 Goals per game - 3.77 Most goals in a game - 17 (Peterhead 17-0 Fort William, 11/04/1998) Biggest win - As above Biggest away win - Fort William 0-13 Inverurie Loco Works (09/02/2008) Most goals in a game which saw both teams score - 15 (Cove Rangers 14-1 Nairn County, 29/10/1994; Formartine United 14-1 Fort William, 05/01/2019) Most goals shared in a draw - 10 (Caledonian 5-5 Peterhead, 29/08/1987; Brora Rangers 5-5 Deveronvale, 24/02/1990) Most goals scored in a loss - 5 (Rothes 5-6 Buckie Thistle, 26/08/1995; Rothes 5-6 Deveronvale, 28/10/1998; Formartine United 6-5 Buckie Thistle, 22/10/2014; Lossiemouth 5-6 Fraserburgh, 29/10/2014) Home goals - 18,923 Away goals - 16,158 Home wins - 4,283 Away wins - 3,525 Score draws - 1,214 No-score draws - 273 Team most involved in a 0-0 draw - Buckie Thistle (50 occurrences) Games won by... 1 goal - 2,835 2 goals - 1,955 3 goals - 1,354 4 goals - 767 More than 4 goals - 897 Most common scoreline - 2-1 (625 occurrences) Second most common - 1-1 (615 occurrence) Third most common - 1-2 (581 occurrences) Fourth most common - 1-0 (480 occurrences) Fifth most common - 2-2 (448 occurrences) Longest winning run - Inverness Thistle (20 games, 13/09/1986 - 28/02/1987) Current longest winning run - Brora Rangers (15 games, 26/10/2019 - 07/03/2020) Longest unbeaten run - Brora Rangers (57 games, 28/12/2013 - 15/08/2015) Shortest winning run - Strathspey Thistle (3 games, 06/10/2018 - 27/10/2018) Longest losing streak - Fort William (28 games, 01/11/2008 - 19/09/2009) Longest run without a win - Fort William (74 games, 15/04/2017 - 11/09/2019) Shortest losing streak - Caledonian (3 games, more than once) Shortest winless streak - Caledonian (4 games, more than once) Most clean sheets - Cove Rangers (326, 31.28%) Most clean sheets in a row - Brora Rangers (10) Longest run of games between clean sheets - Rothes (101 games, 26/10/2013 - 22/04/2017; either side of the run was a clean sheet against Strathspey Thistle) That's your lot for Fort William (1985-present), Cove Rangers (1986-2019), Wick Academy (1994-present), Inverurie Loco Works (2001-present), and Formartine United, Strathspey Thistle and Turriff United (2009-present). Need to go back to the early 1960's for Brora Rangers, and the post-war season for Lossie's first appearance.

Yup

Romario/Baggio hybrid for £250k? I’m in.

I wouldnt overthink it. Players are asked to say something praising their new club, and theres not much he could really say about Airdrie.

Will be gutted to see Nisbet go, but he's out grown where we are as a club now. If the fee is 250K, I would imagine a decent sell on will be included. Bargin for you guys. I know he's never played higher than championship, but you can see right away that he'll go far. Tall and athletic, good touch and a natural goalscorer with feet or head. He'll go further than Shankland IMO.

The deadline for nominating our European entrants is 3rd August. The Scottish Cup cannot be completed before 3rd August, therefore no matter what happened to the Scottish Cup (scrapped or postponed) that place was not going to be used.

I've heard this "why are we only just being told to wear masks three months after locking down?" argument several times. Surely it's the case that three months ago hardly anyone was (well, should have been) venturing outside their own house, and so masks weren't a necessity? Whereas now a lot more people are out and about and wearing masks will allow that to be done reasonably safely?

Happens frequently...not specifically for a pandemic, but in most situations where the company is taking a financial hit then yes, lay off some of the worst performing staff and try your best to keep the company afloat for the benefit of the other employees, management, the owner, and the customers! Unfortunately you seem to missing the bigger picture with your analogy. If Hearts and Thistle are the unlucky employees to be laid off in hard times then usually you would be able to go look for a job elsewhere. In this case, by effectively taking a sh*te on the managers desk because you were unhappy with being unlucky enough to be laid off you’ve scuppered any chance of being re-employed by that company (the SPFL won’t reinstate you); your references for going elsewhere won’t be worth the paper they’re written on (your reputation is shot to hell); no other companies will take you (unless the EoS league are looking?); and you’ll forever be remembered as the twat that shat on the desk out of petulance (and fans of other clubs have long memories...this will be a source of p*ss-taking for way longer than ‘86).

I'd have thought Killie fans would have learned their lesson about prematurely booking trips to Belgrade.

We already knew that the Venn diagram of 'faeces-throwing simpleton' and 'Lewis Capaldi fan' would form a perfect circle, thanks for your tragic input anyway.

Funnily enough, the fairness or otherwise of Hearts relegation from the Scottish Premiership wasn't a priority of the Scottish government during a global pandemic.

When will the Partick "but we had a game in hand" and Falkirk "we were only a point behind" lines be put to rest? The league positions were decided on a PPG basis, not the positions at the end of play.

It's quite the shame that you're now at the "more to be pitied than scolded" stage, Kinky.

Firstly; I have received death threats online. I've had photographs of my home posted on local forums, complete with address and the caption "Here's where an America hater lives." I've had people tell me that they'll send a few of their army buddies around to "have a chat" with me. Hell, I was once driving home from a peaceful protest when I heard a radio presenter say the police should've beaten me and my fellow protesters and thrown us in jail. The employer of one of my friends was contacted anonymously by someone from a different forum, attempting to get her the sack from her job. And the things we were speaking out against were a lot less provocative than Rowling's. But I don't recall a single conservative sticking up for us. Even the ones we thought were our friends. So let's not fall for the narrative that this is a one way street. In recent weeks, we've seen peaceful protesters being tear-gassed, shot with rubber bullets, beaten with nightsticks in real life, not just metaphorically online. And that was for the crime of trying to ensure that people received their rights under the law, rather than advocating people have rights taken away. When conservatives start complaining about that, I'll listen to what they have to say. And If JK Rowling thinks she's a victim, she should try talking to some trans-women and hearing what they go through every single day. ETA: And I've just realised that I wasn't clear with my comment "Everyone's so offended by everything / No, they're calling you out". It wasn't in relation to this particular issue; it merely set my mind off in that direction. It's really a different topic. I wasn't saying that what's happened to Rowling was just "people calling her out."

Leslie Deans sending his congratulations to a Kickback poster who goes by the name Hibsarepants, is right up there in this whole saga.