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Imagine seething at a billboard.

We’ll need to wait for the final to find out, but probably 1-0 to Scotland as per usual.

We are in a third wave. An exit wave. Whatever you want to call it. Cases are clearly out of control in Scotland, I find myself chuckling at people absolutely furious about media/the First Minister/Leitch saying this. It’s a statement of fact. Cases aren’t as important as they once were, obviously, and the wave itself shouldn’t be nearly as bad as the others. That should be stressed. But it’s still a third wave regardless, and there’s still a correlation between numbers of cases and numbers of hospitalisations even if the guaranteed link is broken - previously it was about 10% of all cases would end up in hospital, and we simply won’t have 80 hospital admissions based on today’s positive cases. That’s great news but it could still be 20, or 30. It’s unsustainable to just let that keep building up again because 30 won’t come out every day. What hospitals are seeing more regularly is people with one dose of vaccine presenting to them and that creates a massive problem for the UK and the 12-week gap between doses. It’s being dealt with and that’s great, but it takes time to implement. About half of 50-60 year olds have one dose in Scotland at the moment, for context, and 25% of 60-65 year olds. From the little we know, which is mostly just Hancock’s blethering about Bolton, the problem with single doses not working as well is a direct result of the Indian variant and would not be a problem right now if it hadn’t been imported en masse. This is 100% the fault of the UK Government, if Johnson didn’t want to play Emperor to get a trade deal it wouldn’t have happened and we’d still be puffing on the cigars. Having said all that, the Indian variant is here now. Cases are rising. It is what it is. Short of another lockdown we can’t stop that. Up until early May, it was looking like we were on the way out of everything with next to no exit wave. All that is fundamentally different now is the route to normality will see more people in hospital, and more dead, than we thought a month ago. It’ll also clearly be a few weeks slower, Scotland have already made that clear and England will follow eventually. The can is getting kicked down the road, but it shouldn’t change the fundamental fact that vaccines work, and the full population will be vaccinated soon. The more this goes on the more I wonder if Mark fucking Drakeford was the visionary we didn’t know we had, when he told us in March that 2021 was fucked.

Absolutely fuming with Yousaf’s comments yesterday. Increasingly becoming annoyed with the absolute thoughtlessness of some of the SNP MSP’s. I work with so many children crippled by anxiety thanks to COVID - talking about children being hospitalised for going to soft play isn’t exactly going to help. Utter fucking p***k.

For people like Martin, it wasn't about getting rid of the forrins. It was about getting rid of their rights. He wants an (even more) underclass of workers he can threaten with deportation if they don't turn up for a shift.

2012

Exactly. There's been a lot of bemoaning of Robertson for years, but it hasn't stopped with the advent of Tierney's new role. What many fail to realise is that Robertson's attacking danger helps to open up the pitch for Tierney. By looking to nullify Robertson (look at Israel putting two men on him at times), it open the pitch up hugely for Tierney, who can often run 50-60 yards without pressure. The fact that Tierney can pick out a pass straight through the middle, or rampage down the left makes him incredibly useful. If we can develop Patterson to be an attacking full back with huge pace, then we'll cause teams enormous problems as focusing on Robertson will open the pitch up even more for us.

Tbh, this is why my brain's melted at the number of mile-oots who fundamentally don't seem to understand the club policy that we'll not cut a player loose if they're injured. We'll offer them support and rehab if they want it. That doesn't mean there's a quid pro quo - it's just the right thing to do. If the player subsequently chooses to move on then the club hasn't been "stung" by it, they've simply upheld a duty of care. We're coming off a season where at one point we had 17 (SEVENTEEN) players either injured or unavailable (of which Dunne was one), the manager who signed him has left the club, the new manager has spoken publicly about wanting to run with a smaller squad and players who he feels we can get 40 odd games out of a season. Yet toys are getting flung around because the player has taken a concrete offer from another club when we were inviting him back to the club for a kick about and folk are also furious at the club because they haven't chucked a deal at a player who hasn't kicked a ball since August 2019? Even if he had been able to "prove" his fitness I'd be amazed if we'd have offered him a 2 year deal. It'd have been an extra year in the style of Crawford and Mugabi. The idea that there's any criticism warranted toward either the player or the club here is fucking mental (the same argument stands for folk who are pissy about Tanner as well).

Three Billboards in Hamilton Lanarkshire.

Due to COVID I haven’t seen my missus in Ohio for nearly 15 months. This morning a top boy from Royal Mail delivered a package from the US embassy with my passport and shiny K1 visa in it. Looking at flying out next week, then getting married a few weeks later

That's me with a creamy German fluid inside me courtesy of a 3 inch prick. Open the pubs, open the stadiums, open my legs.

over the past 3 seasons (it doesn't include Kelty season for Boyle, as I can't get data)...

Embarrassing. Another needing their head flushed down the pan and then fired out Mons Meg. The airlines and travel industry should be filing court proceedings at this point. I can only hope once we reach Israeli levels of vaccine coverage that this dystopian insanity ends.

Good luck to Jim. That's a role that will suit him. He's an excellent coach of defenders and has a wealth of knowledge. Nick McAllister will benefit a lot from continuing to work with him and I reckon he might even be able to coach Sean McGinty into being a passable Championship centre-half. Hopkin's recruitment and Duffy's recruitment as a combo will be incredible to watch.

Good experience and knowledge, good person to have about the place with good ideas, maybe good he’s not manager….. Probably had enough of being a manager and it’ll be an easy gig, good contacts and can maybe focus on other parts of what we need like looking at opposition or scouting. A good appointment in my opinion

You two are absolutely at it. Of course being paid to sit around and do nothing has been fucking brilliant for the majority of people. None of these folk choose to be furloughed due to a global pandemic but you want to have a pop at them for enjoying it? I've never understood the "I'd rather work than have free time" mantra. Even with nothing open I could think of at least 20 things I'd rather be doing than working.

It's actually no wonder players and their wives end up arguing with our fans over social media, some of the hot takes on Charlie Dunne Stealing a living and shafting the club are absolutely wild. one of life's good guys, who provided some excellent #content over the years.

I think he is down to Bennett as his last subscriber sadly.

Thursday knew 6 plus inspired guessing for 10/10.

Never mind flights to Portugal, we should be inviting this guy to take over this country instead of the fucking psychos running the joint now.

The variant chat used to make me seething and almost argumentative with folk but I find it all really mentally draining now. The folk peddling this shite and brainwashing folk into thinking I'm still at a risk even though I'm completely vaccinated and am completely safe can go and f**k themselves.

Big fan of the away kit. Reminiscent of something Germany based from the 90s. Solid effort. edit to add pic.

Any easy (and popular) demand when you aren't in charge of funding it. I agree it's ridiculous. Once restrictions on hospitality/retail etc are fully gone, furlough goes as well.

RossB is Stu's da?

Decent, not getting carried away however if we rest Robertson for the Luxemburg friendly and the Croatia group game (as we will be already qualified) it will be his 50th cap in the Final.

There have been a few times I’ve made it down to Stranraer and can’t believe how far I’ve come.

I’ve got the Other Half’s family panicking and wanting to cancel a booked lunch catch-up in 10 days time in case the dad and (disabled) sister catch COVID. One of her sisters won’t visit family this week as she was away to Oban for the weekend with her husband. This is what is has boiled down to; folk being meek and petrified of their shadows, scared of “unknown” variants despite every single one of her family being double- dunted with vaccine. I had cross words last night as I questioned if her family, scared to meet for a lunch, have not been shopping, gone to work, met anyone anywhere and why would a couple days in Oban be more deadly than if her sister and man had stayed at home and went to work or supermarket etc. While I think her family are being totally irrational and borderline stupid, you can’t help them if they’ve been bombarded with doom & gloom for 15 months. It’s as if no other accidents or illness can cause hospitalisation or death. Despite the figures suggesting this virus is currently a very minor risk to life and no worse than a bad cold for most youngsters unvaccinated. Time to sack clowns like Yousaf for reckless lies and to put Leitch and co back into their unseen back- offices and let them disappear.

Although the 20-21 season has just finished, there's much to be intrigued about in the forthcoming season. There are a number of clubs emerging as strong contenders for the title of Banter Kings of Scottish football. A competition dominated by rangers in its first few years, Celtic finally managed to wrestle the trophy from their big rivals in a dominant display during 2020-21. The following is a summary of the contenders in this season's Banter King Title Race, feel free to skip down to the Too long couldn't be arsed ending. The runners:- Aberdeen - set their stall out early with the appointment of the chairman's best pal as manager and talk of strategies and visions, compounded by the announcement of Scott Brown as assistant. A few decent signings on and some far bigger plays by rival clubs means the Dons have slipped down the reckoning a bit. This could go either way, and be a sink like a stone or an incredible season. Alternatively, they might finish top half but win f**k all just like usual. Will it be high 5's and yeehas all round for the Dandies? Celtic - Didn't just take the Banter title from their arch rivals last season, they ripped it from their grasp and carved their own name onto it half way through the season. Some 'interesting' managerial appointments at other clubs had left Celtic unsure how to better them, until they top trumped everyone with the 'appoint no one for 100 days' strategy. Just as the novelty of that is diminishing, they look set to appoint a complete unknown who might not be qualified to coach in Europe. It's been a strong early showing by the current Banter Champs, but can they keep it going for another full season..? Dundee - a club steeped in the tradition of point and laugh moments. Look fairly settled just now, and have possibly passed the city of discovery Banter baton along the road.. Dundee United - On paper, appointing a relatively unknown youth coach and playing your under 14's before selling them on for millions seems like a sound business plan, but who's to say? Will he end up the Daddy Mac, or be another Jackie Mac? Could be one to watch in this race.. Hearts - An incredibly consistent performer in this contest over a couple of decades, yet all seems surprisingly quiet down Gorgie way. They may well have completely changed strategy and going for a run things smoothly approach to provide a foundation for success, but you can never write off this behemoth of Banter, as the next maroon implosion is never too far away. Hibs - Seem a long way down the running for this. Fairly steady with a decent manager. The sale and failure to replace a couple of key players might disrupt things, but the only thing likely to involve Hibs in this battle is going into full meltdown and panicking if Hearts are having an outstanding season. Livingston - Will the sugar man be able to reproduce his team's early form, or was the stuttering last couple of months a precursor of what's to come? Livi struggling wouldn't be a huge shock, but the manager completely losing the plot, and no happy ending to the fairy tale with horse's heads being uncovered in beds all over West Lothian could bring the Lions into contention. Motherwell - The steady reliable veterans of the Premiership are like your Gran at family gatherings; friendly, inoffensive, and almost part of the furniture as you know they'll always be there. Until one day you get a phone call and they're dead. If we learned one thing watching Kilmarnock this season, it's that they were shite. Even when Motherwell were having a honking season and swimming in sewage a few years ago, they ended up smelling of roses as they skelped Rangers in the play offs. Again, a poor season and relegation wouldn't be that strong a bid, Well are going to have to come up with a lot more than that to be in with a shout. Rangers - The founders of the competition, and dominant force in its early years appear to be on the rise, and to have left the Banter race firmly in the rear view mirror. But Gerrard being poached, boardroom splits, the taxman finding a dusty old folder that needs looking into.. As a wise man once said; never, ever underestimate a club whose fans celebrate by bottling each other and setting off fireworks in their own hands. Ross County - Galloping up to the front runners from the outside lane with some magnificent early season form. Hiring the same marketing team as Fred and Rosemary West might be the kind of modern thinking which isn't to everyone's taste, but it's been a master stroke in this particular competition. Can County sustain this early season form, or will they fade into the pack? St Johnstone - The Perth Saints look set to dominate Domestic and European football for years to come; but it just takes the manager and one or two young stars to move on and suddenly the garden looks a lot less rosey. On paper, as steady a Premiership ship that you could hope to sail on, Saints look like rank outsiders for this particular trophy. But it just takes the tea lady to punch Gerard's lights out, or a couple of players getting caught injecting heroin down that lane between Tesco and Canal Street, and suddenly the envy of diddy clubs all over the world become a shambles and force themselves into contention. Could this be yet another trophy that ends up in Perth? St Mirren - last and probably least. A lot riding on things this season; can the buddies hold onto their 7th place crown, or will they be forced back down into 8th? It's a tough call, but should make for fascinating viewing. Lower leagues - Could killie or Accies do the Double Slide for a trip to the seaside? Special mentions to Morton, and especially Falkirk who have always been frontrunners in this particular event. Or could there be a surprise newcomer.. would big spending Kelty being relegated straight back to the lowland league be enough to take the title? All to play for. TL;CBA So who's it going to be? Give your predictions for the season ahead...

100% this. I'm currently working from my bedroom. I work 4 days a week, 8-5:45. By 5:50 on those nights my laptop is off, and it gets switched back on just before I jump in the shower at about half 7 on the days I'm working so that I'm good to go at 8. People need to take the personal responsibility to set boundaries with their employers. Unless you are in a job where you are required to be on call, then switch off your work devices when you aren't working.

As shite as he was I never actually minded Harrison that much always felt he was trying his best he just should never have been signed for that level. Typical English lower league jobber slow as f**k, can’t pass the ball but would header bricks all day long. He’s better than both Hall and Durnan imo.

He played centre back for most of them, where he was still shite but had Robbie Deas covering for him. Weird how you aren't taking any The Caley fans opinion of him given he's been with us for 5 years and been shite all that time. It's not as if we've seen him every week. He might be brilliant for you at League One level, he's 100% not good enough for the Championship. Do you want me to say he's brilliant or something?

I can't believe there hasnt been more discussion around the video announcement of tiffoney. An absolute thing of beauty and if you said I had watched it over 50 times then you would be absolutely correct. I hope you win the league, scottish cup and league cup this year based on that video.

Sad to see him go. Hope he does well down the coast

An even better example is Max Currie. Relegated with Stranraer but clearly more than capable of playing for us.

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/nicola-sturgeon-urge-uk-government-20731765 I really do not understand this. By the end of September every adult who wants to be vaccinated will be, and all domestic restrictions should be long since fired into the sun. That is the time to stop furlough. What gallery are they playing to here? It's frustrating as well that Gove is saying they're "open minded". There is going to be economic hardship because of this, there has to be acceptance that this is the case rather than just trying to deal with the hardship in another 6 months...no another 6 months....

Attack is the best form of defence. If they are too busy worrying about what we are doing up top they won't have too much time to bother our defence. It was over cautious football from McKinnon and then M&M that has consigned us to a third season in League 1. We need to go for broke and put out a really attacking formation every game, it's the third tier of Scottish Football FFS, even Sheerin was coming away with "I know it will be difficult, it's a tough league blah blah blah". "we'll look at each game as it comes etc." - what a load of shite. If we're scared about playing against butchers, bakers and IT managers (updated for the 21st century) we'd be as well rappin' it in now.

St Johnstone fans crowding out our thread to discuss the latest signing? Standard stuff.

I hit the jackpot last night! After losing all my tickets (3 Hampden games) my English mates brother decided he didn’t want to go to Scotland v Croatia so he transferred the pair to me. I can’t believe my luck after the disappointment of losing them previously. The Croatia game was the only Scotland game I had before as well so that’s even more luck that I’m going after all.

There's a massive fear that with this double deal for the new season that the Migoo family start making the rest of us look like insane posters with the in depth, non nonsensical posts. It's a crossroads moments for the Derry on PnB but welcome to the party StuSnr & StuJnr.

I am warning people right now before you watch this - prepare for whatever physical reaction your body gives you to cringing because you have never cringed this hard in your life:

[emoji23][emoji1787][emoji23] Two "defensive mid's" to protect the back four against part-time 'jobbers'! Do me a favour. Bet you're one of the goons on here that promote such arrant nonsense, at this level, then moan their tits off at making zero shots at Peterhead, Dumbarton & Cove; as the team fail to make the play offs. Be gone, you utter imbecile.

That’s why he plays for Brighton. He’s also French so not really relevant to tonights game.

I think the just crowned manager of the year is about to announce a double swoop fan signing of Stumigoo and StumigooDa. It can be difficult to cross the Dundee footballing divide, but I think the Stumigoo family know that the time is right to leave the darkside. Announce the signings, and welcome aboard!

The absolute state of folk taking issue with describing the Dutch as a "decent" side. Nobody's saying they're one of the best sides in the world but they're ranked 16th in the world and across their last 17 competitive games in Euros qualifying, Nations League and World Cup qualifying, they've only lost three times (to Germany, Italy, and Turkey), which includes a win in Germany and wins home and away vs Poland. They are very clearly a "decent" team, at minimum.

He said it last August.

Mind when we came out of a double header against Kazakhstan and fucking San Marino with a negative goal difference.

If you told me in May 2019 during Queen of the South 0-0 Raith Rovers that I was watching 2 of Scotland’s 3 centre forwards heading to Euro 2020 I would have seriously questioned your sanity.

I think for the first time ever in BSC’s history they have more fans than player.