Bring Your Own Socks

Turkey’s beneath us. Rome, Madrid, Mount Florida. That’s it for now!

If you read (instead of interpreting) my post I said “something” not “this is it”. Your 10 year plan you mentioned actually started in 1974 after the World Cup and Johann Cruyff and chums dazzled everyone. Way back then Scotland was to mimic the Dutch side according to Ernie Walker. Whatever the 10 year plan is/was it’s not doing the business. AZ Alkmaar have 47% of their first team minutes attributed to youngsters who came from their programme, which starts with 10 year olds. A smallish regional club, not unlike yours, they reached the semi-finals of the European Conference Cup this season and are about to qualify for Europe this weekend for next season. Fourth top in one of the best leagues in the world. Most importantly though, they’ve continually been around the top of the Dutch League for a couple of decades now. If you want to denounce Beuker as a snake oil salesman, put up the same stats for any or all of the Premiership teams. I’d guess the best of them would hardly be out of single digits. Some might even be zero. Or as a warm-up, just tell us the St Johnstone percentage of first team players who regularly start and came up through your academy system. Scottish football is dire, as we’ll find out shortly when, yet again, the clubs outside the OF who are in Europe are out of Europe before the schools go back. You’ll remind us of Saints charge to the qualifying rounds a few years ago? Sky’s deal for Scottish football (all 4 leagues although it’ll only be one) next season is 42 game and for the EFL (not the EPL) it’s 160 games. We’re a laughing stock in global terms and it’s that dearth of money that allows the OF to keep dominating everyone else. Anything that might improve the game is to be considered. Not that QP are doing it for Scotland, but if it works - and we know it’s an if - other clubs would certainly follow.

He took the opportunity to get in the dugout when we had a long spell between Laurie Ellis at the end of 2021 and Coyle arriving late April 22. Billed as “helping out”, having looked endlessly online for any evidence of him actually coaching/managing, I quickly realised he had seized an opportunity to get the feel for being a manager without any real responsibility for it. Plus, and probably more so, it gave him the opportunity to get really close to how the game was played in Scotland. Quite different, from his own experiences I’d imagine. His philosophy is a breath of fresh air but given the rest of the place has been like a horse’s byre all season it’s maybe not transferable to Scotland. Aside of my own club, I do hope it signals a new direction for the rest of Scottish football, certainly at the upper level. Something is needed to break the grip of the Old Firm, or at least release it every now and again.

Here’s another solution, in your style. Part-time teams can’t enter the Championship in case the players get too tired. Ridiculous, eh? But just as nuts as your opinion.

Aye, 16-3 is every reason to be worried about the defence. Have at it Hoss!

Anyone looking at this picture who wasn’t aware of what has been happening would think that the pitch and stand in the foreground is the academy complex for the big team that plays at the stadium in the background.

8-3. 8-0. It’s like European nights in the seventies. Well done the Jags!

Language is a bit vague but “events” would normally be taken as stadium events e.g. music concert etc. Functions e.g. weddings, parties etc wouldn’t qualify. I’d expect those to be in the two lounges in the Pavilion. So really, other than a few hours every other Saturday Haughey’s Howf will be vacant.

I wouldn’t say that Haughey's Trough is for hospitality, more like entertaining. By the time you take in the directors (all 11 Committee members are Directors of the limited company) of both clubs playing, Main Sponsor and friends, other sponsors and friends, CEO & DoF and hingers-on, that’s your 40 seats gone.

That Clyde were relegated?

900 1700

I think we’ve gifted you quite enough recently

When Henry McLeish's Report was published 13 years ago the argument by the big clubs then was that this bottom-up development would not only strengthen the game but also the national team. Since then, the national team has improved but no-one could pin that down to B teams. Rangers and Celtic first teams aren't exactly swollen with their previous prodigies. Neither is the national team squad dependent on old firm talent, although there are more ex-Celts in the squad. In lieu of young Scots not reaching the top teams of the SPL clubs and national team, it could be argued that those that don't make it raise the bar in the lower leagues as they find their level. Jack Thomson and Conor Smith are good examples of that but there's bound to be many decent youngsters who leave the game after rejection. So, we're left with the obvious conclusion (as has been the case since the late 19th century as recorded in the SFA Museum) that the Old Firm, and now a few others, are simply interested in hoovering up the best of talent to limit their opponents success and then capitalise on the sale value when they are at their peak. All the other clubs (the SFA has 162 teams registered in the pyramid) should be asking the question, what's in it for us?

That’s how it started…