Leaderboard

You know, we have a whole generation in the UK, plus others, who bizarrely believe that they personally helped defeat Hitler in WW2, when in reality, days like today tell us they would have grassed Anne Frank in the minute they heard noises up in the attic.

I actually expect Rangers and Celtic to make their colt sides quite strong here. They'll be looking to absolutely piss the Lowland league, have both of them finishing first and second, then they can start the argument that the LL doesn't offer a high enough standard and the colts should move into League 2. I could not despise these Lowland League teams more for letting that foot in the door. It's utterly shameful some of the back patting they're doing right now.

270 new cases of COVID-19 reported 25,093 new tests for COVID-19 that reported results 1.2% of these were positive 1 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive 4 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19 (down from 6) 63 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19 (down from 65) 2,968,169 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 1,551,339 have received their second dose

Well, that's the problem really, he opens his mouth every fucking day on issues that don't concern him. He's the fucking advisor to the government, he's there to provide strategy to government, he has absolutely no authority to be telling anyone to do anything, yet he gets wheeled out as the Voice of the Pandemic that all must listen to. If Glasgow City Council don't want these events going ahead then perhaps they can work with the police and identify the people who are organising them online, then throw fines at them for arranging a mass gathering without going through the proper channels. Throwing Leitch into the paper to say "I warn you not to do it" helps absolutely nothing, and quite frankly I'm sick of listening the c**t. If he doesn't want stick then perhaps he can revert back to the anonymous c**t he was before March 2020 and nobody will have anything to dig him up for. FWIW, the police will do f**k all to stop this celebration, they'll shrug their shoulders and say "you were asked not to do this", these articles provide the perfect arse covering they can point to later when the city centre is yet again left in a complete shambles.

It seems rather fatuous to compare the developmental benefits of Ajax II playing in the Dutch Eerste Divisie (T2) against e.g. NAC Breda or Go Ahead Eagles, to the anticipated developmental benefits of the Colts playing in the Lowland League (T5) against e.g. Gretna 2008 or Caledonian Braves. As avid readers of the Guardian's Dutch football output will no doubt know, the better comparison here would be to Ajax Amateurs, who play in the Derde Divisie (T4). I couldn't possibly hazard an opinion on the quality of Ajax Amateurs, unless I had actually seen them play. Thankfully I have, versus FC Lisse in October 2019. Lisse won 2-1. (I was in town for a Twilight Sad gig.) The standard of football was woeful, it made me feel quite at home actually. But the smaller stadium within De Toekomst which houses the Amateurs would at least manage to get a licence here and, Firhill besides, very few of our stadia have canals passing by the touchline. I don't believe any of those Ajax Amateur or FC Lisse players are destined to grace the stage of the World Cup in Qatar, but time will tell, elite development is a difficult thing to forecast. Can we perhaps stop comparing the Dutch model (T2) to the Colts Lowland League model (T5)? It's a false premise. The Colts are not going to be playing against the quality of players here which they would encounter in the Eerste Divisie, they are going to be playing against Scottish fifth tier players. Which is not to say I hope we parachute the Colts into our T2. That idea can also go firmly into the bin, or into the bak as they may call it in the Netherlands desk of the Guardian. I really hope this Colts vote will not pass at the AGM, but if it does, I'm perfectly happy to bypass the teams which voted it through when I choose where to spend my money next season. That's my view. I don't have as many Champions League medals as Stevie G, nor the abdominal muscles of John Collins, but I'm not an absolute mug who will swallow any passing fad just because some business studies student put together a cute wee PDF which used the word "conservatively" injudiciously and quoted utterly irrelevant social media engagement statistics.

The Scottish government despise working class football fans and, when it comes to this final, don't have UEFA whipping them into accepting a certain amount of spectators in the ground.

I live in Annecy, in the French Alps. 15 minutes from here is the village of Rumilly. I drove through there two hours ago. So fucking what, you say. Tonight, GFA Rumilly, an amateur side, play Monaco in the semi-final of the French Cup, for the right to play PSG in the final. The team includes a cheese maker, an electrician, a student, an estate agent and some who are out of work. And they’re playing Monaco tonight, for a place in the final against PSG. The game is here in Annecy, and live on national TV. As I was driving through, the locals were lining the street to wave off the team bus. Greatest sport in the world.

Fuck your cunt of a club mate.

It can’t be said enough that this Tory government are just truly fucking evil. Inhuman, sociopathic evil. Their immigration policy is disgusting, we all know this, but when you consider this instance in isolation, that they’ve quite obviously done this in Sturgeon’s constituency to coincide with the Scottish Parliament being sworn in - essentially using two men’s lives to make a political power play - AND doing so within a sizeable Muslim community on the biggest annual celebration in their religion, it really, really exhibits just how truly fucking despicable they are. Those two guys, on what is their equivalent of Christmas, have spent hours on end in the back of a van with no food, water or toilet access, and so heinous is the alternative that we can deem this a success. It’s fucking disgusting and these c***s that have implemented it truly are the fucking scum of the earth. Two plusses I guess are that (most importantly) the guys have got out, and secondly, incidents like this can surely only increase support for independence every time they occur.

You're free to think it's doom mongering. Personally, I'm not totally sure I'd still take an interest in Scottish football if colt teams were in the SPFL. For me, it would essentially ruin it as a competition. That's not something you can deny. That is the way I and hundreds, if not thousands of other fans feel. Lose a significant portion of those supporters and lower league Scottish football as we know it is basically finished. B teams have existed in Spanish football since before I was born. I have no idea how Spanish football supporters felt about it then and no idea how they feel about them now. It could well be that the situation there and how fans feel about their leagues and clubs is different. I can only comment on what the sentiment and potential consequences are here. Scottish (and English) football is relatively rare in that it has relatively well-supported clubs and relatively thriving leagues right down to the levels. Since Croatia is mentioned so often, their second tier (this is clubs ranked 11th - 29th in their system) and where these B teams operate had an average attendance of just 486 in season 2018/19. And even then, only one club had an average attendance of over 500. No B team had an average attendance over 300. That's less than League Two in Scotland. Pollock Juniors would be the 11th best supported club in the whole Croatian league if they were in it. Lower league football in Scotland is far stronger than in most European countries and far more people are invested in it. That makes a difference.

I fucking hate this Tory Government with every fibre of my being.

Come this afternoon, obviously these guys were all there and you can already see the right-wing media and Twitter accounts with Union jacks using those lines. But the vans can come and go pretty much as quickly as they like. You aren’t getting those guys out at the drop of a hat. The first people to lie down in front of the van were neighbours, friends, passers-by, and that’s the best thing about it for me. Regular people telling the Home Office to f**k off. A reminder that people genuinely do have power, when they stand together.

I’m a cynical ghoul normally but this has genuinely warmed my heart. It wasn’t ‘professional protestors’ or ‘the radical left’ that stopped that van whisking the two lads away this morning, it was just neighbours and the local community telling the Home Office to get to f**k. A small win, in the grand scheme of it. Undoubtedly they’ll be back. But sometimes you just need to see the little man get a win.

I don't really give a f**k about the etiquette of the announcement, what concerns me is that it wasn't announced at the same time as the others which leads me to believe Holt was trying to get him to stay and negotiations eventually broke down and so it was confirmed he is leaving. If Holt was wanting to keep that impostor then it shows his judgement of a player and we're in big fucking trouble. Still.

I 100% believe it was intentional, and for two reasons. I truly don’t believe that pure incompetence leads to 8 different home office ministers being completely unavailable for hours on end, and when one is eventually sourced it’s the most junior who basically dicks the SG around. That screams of a concerted effort to ignore the SG and then fob them off when they just don’t go away. Secondly, and with the main crux of my first post, they are fucking evil scum with motivation to do horrible things in a misguided attempt to get one over on the First Minister. Never, ever underestimate the depths this Tory Government will stoop to.

Managed Sgurr Mor via Kayak across Loch Quoich today. It was windier than expected, hence shiting it at times trying to negotiate waves in an inflatable. Epic day though and a great way to approach these hills.

Get the new manager sorted then let him come in and decide which players he wants to keep for next season and which ones he doesn't. Also once you've got the new manager in he should have the final say on which player comes in. Perfect scenario, new manager comes in, goes to Holt and says I need a centre midfielder. Holt goes out and gives the manager the options he has sourced and the manager makes the final decision on which player he wants in. It's not rocket science but when a manager has to rely on his squad in order to be successful in their job he should have a say on who's in that squad.

Played the Old Course this morning, and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. Found it such an enjoyable course to play even as a mid to high handicapper. Plenty short par 4’s where a straight drive could have you a wedge in, but the thing I enjoyed the most was playing little bump and runs across the slopes and greens. The pins seemed to be in favourable positions where a lot of shots naturally filtered down towards them. Birdied the 9th and lipped out for eagle on the 10th but had a couple of lost balls early on which resulted in me finishing with a round of 95, which I was over the moon about. Highlight was firing my drive straight over the Old Course Hotel roof onto the middle of the fairway on 17, and running a punchy 5 iron up the green. Played that hole so many times on the PlayStation, it was a surreal feeling to be doing it in real life. Only entered the ballot on Monday night on the off chance we got picked, but from speaking to the starter today he said anyone who entered it would have got a tee time due to the lack of tourists, but from next Monday it’s starting to get busier again.

Imagine there is a children's hospital with absolute state of the art equipment, top class doctors and a very good co-operation/communication with local GPs and they also have clowns in the hospital to entertain the children to make them feel a bit better. People running a children's hospital in a different area with very outdated equipment, and underqualified doctors who don't even communicate with GPs in their area see that other hospital and are impressed by the recovery rates from horrible diseases over there. Then they just decide to employ some clowns ignoring the equipment, staff qualifications & communication issues to then claim: "it works in the other hospital, so this will solve all our issues". That's essentially the logic of pro-colt team advocates like Che Dail on development of players in Scotland.

Disappointed to see accies relegated tbh. I will miss the “massive” championship clubs who are too pish to get promoted crying about their very existence.

This was the view from my window this afternoon. Never felt prouder to be part of this community.

Tories are just irredeemably despicable excuses for human beings.

Just wanted to follow up on my thought here. But maybe it's precisely because there are no B teams and the whole league competitions from top to bottom of the Scottish game have always had that competitive integrity that it's so strong compare to other countries. Scotland is consistently at the top of league tables like 'highest % of the population regularly attending live football matches'. I'm 100% sure that is because we haven't allowed our lower levels (including HL, the juniors, etc) to become devalued by having B teams and youth teams in them. Scottish football below the Premier might not be the highest quality out there but it's extremely competitive, entertaining and very important to the people that watch it and support it. There are criticisms to be levelled at it. The SPFL being a closed shop for over a century was a disgrace and the limited access from tier 5 to 4 and from tier 6 to 5 is not acceptable. But the creation of the pyramid has been a huge step forward and I'm confident these issues can be fixed in time. It's the best thing that's happened to Scottish football in recent times and almost immediately, the OF are looking to get their claws into it. I don't accept at all that B teams will increase the standard of the national team but there is a valid point in here somewhere. What happens when a proposal helps the national team or player development but harms the league? What is the primary purpose of the SPFL and the various league bodies below it? Is it to provide a competitive, entertaining league that helps support club football in Scotland? Or does it exist to help the national team. the one thing it definitely should not do is exist to support the ambitions of two rich clubs to the detriment of everyone else. Leaving these decisions to the OF is like leaving a Labrador with 14 bowls of food when you're away for a fortnight. The thing'll eat them all within minutes and then starve to death after a few days. The OF will permanently damage Scottish football if they think it gives them the slightest financial or competitive edge. And they shouldn't be allowed to do it.

Here's a solution to keeping the kitchen tidy: Tidy it up as you go along instead of leaving half filled coffee cups, dirty plates lying about, sugar all over the worktop which you have somehow managed to not get into a cup despite you being a fucking 49 year old human and generally wiping up something you've spilled on the floor at the time. Thank you for listening. Good day.

Yes, our fisheries are definitely better off now. As to state subsidies, the other EU nations have found various ways of directly and indirectly supporting strategic industries over the years. The UK doesn't, because the UK political class has an ingrained outlook towards hands off, free market economics that leaves us high and dry. Let's not forget how close AstraZeneca came to not existing in 2012 when Cameron's government refused to lift a finger to stop a buy out of AZ by Pfizer who, whatever their current social standing, were long known to be serial asset strippers. Would the world be better off now had Pfizer come in and been allowed to carry off AZ patents and running down the UK arm of the business? In the end the AZ board fought off the proposed take over in what one City analyst called "The most blatant disregard for share holder value" he'd seen (which, when you get down to it is the core issue - does AZ exist to make pharmaceuticals or to enhance share holder value?) Another example would be ARM. The crown jewels of the UK semiconductor business, and a truly important part of the semiconductor eco system. Allowed to be sold off to Softbank in 2016 with Theresa May trumpeting the idea it meant Britain was "open for business" as if in her head the whole idea of UK industry was of something to be sold off. When SoftBank proposed to sell it, we now have Nvidia wanting to buy it, which will give Nvidia a short term boost in IP and revenue but will destroy ARM'S business model as other companies like Apple and Intel will no longer want to license chip design from a direct competitor. So yeah, I will take EU rules on state subsidy and competition. Because it's not them that make the UK a poor place to run a business. That honour goes to the technology illiterates in the City and in Government all clutching at their copies of Friedman.

Wtf is going on here? We’ve released a woeful “football player” and announced his release. What’s the issue? He has stunk the place out for 2 years, we owe him nothing. Cheerio

The bar has been set. Patel and the Home Office have zero authority in our communities.

This Durnan “PR boob / disaster” patter is ridiculous. A player left the club a statement was issued. Absolutely nothing to discuss other than the whether or not the player would be a loss.

You categorically love to see it.

I am quite happy with my decision not to vote for this or any other shower last week. What a complete shambles of a government we have. They are exceptionally fortunate that they are better people than the tories because they are no less fucking incompetent.

Eagerly awaiting the first HILARIOUS application from a LAD who sends in his Football Manager CV.

Not that interesting. The Hibs boys are class and Tony Blair is a chomp.

It's the folk who watched the whole season via a stream that deserve medals

The Queen got about three weeks before Boris forced her back.

I recently changed my name to Steppenwolf. I was born Toby Wilde.

What a guy.

Yes, and the B-team had nothing to do with that. None of their biggest talents in history came through there. Are you honestly telling me how the system in the Dutch second tier works, the country that I'm from and the division that the team I support play in?

Apologies to anyone who logged in expecting to see a thread about the Division One Play-Off Final.

I'm 300 miles closer to you than before and I'll be travelling another 300 to boot your baws you Tory c**t.

The Yanks are currently firing vaccines into teenagers at the local supermarket, while we spend about 100 years sending blue envelopes out and trundling through forty year olds.

Nah I’m all aboard the bring back Moult bus. After having a year of meh, apathy, and a squad lacking an *identity* or *character* I suggest full on nostalgia. Moult and Cole can lead the line in a 352 thunderdome reincarnation. Break the bank and get Kipre and Aldred back and even see if Carl McHugh fancies a couple more concussions. The last few years of trying “forwards” as wingers has soured the 433 and the heady days of watching gboly skin folk for fun before rocketing shots into the stands.

May as well not bother trying to give tickets out to the fans. Let the all the staff and friend and familyof the players in. Too much hassle this late in the day when we have such little staff to organise who gets a ticket.

Hope they stop this. Have seen Humza Yousaf and Sturgeon speaking out as well which is nice. f**k the Home Office and f**k the police.

Burkey had 4 shots on target last night. He bursting a gut for a team full of losers. If it wasn’t for him and Lafferty we’d be down weeks ago.

Championship/League 1* can’t forget about the Scottish football powerhouse that is Falkirk FC. Have you seen their home attendances?!

I see that the 'Indian variant' bullshit wasn't working so they've doubled down with 'highly transmissable' as well. Shut the f**k up and get those vaccines flowing instead.