Sportsound Watch

[RandomGuy.]

5 minutes ago, paranoid android said:

I don't know if she refused - she seemed incredulous to be asked, though - it now seems that Doncaster is now happy to take discussions forward.

You are incredibly biased, though, so fair play for admitting that. 

If she didnt do it then she refused.

She said herself she was asked to put it in an official document so it could be put to a vote next week, and that hasnt been done.

The SPFL cant just accept a bag of money no strings attached and only absolute fucking morons believe they could. Every time she speaks she comes across worse.

[kingjoey]

41 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Richard Gordon with the chat that Dundee United are 'back where they should be'. 

Hate that nonsense. 

You need to listen to things carefully. He did say that, but the context was that he was having a go at Willie Miller who says that fairly frequently.

[paranoid android]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

If she didnt do it then she refused.

She said herself she was asked to put it in an official document so it could be put to a vote next week, and that hasnt been done.

The SPFL cant just accept a bag of money no strings attached and only absolute fucking morons believe they could. Every time she speaks she comes across worse.

Why are you so angry about this? 

[WALMOT]

From the BBC Football website:-

Hearts owner Ann Budge says "philanthropists" have approached her offering millions of pounds to help lower-league clubs as she expressed her frustration with the SPFL.

Budge admits her discussion paper on league reconstruction is doomed to fail, adding: "A number of clubs won't be able to play next season."

She says the league has been unhelpful over the offer of financial help.

"I'm being asked to put it in writing. It's a nonsense," she said.

"It's not quick enough, it's not decisive enough."

Describing the offer of help for Scotland's lower-league clubs as "an amazing philanthropic gesture", believed to be worth millions of pounds with no conditions, the businesswoman continued: "They know me because of Hearts.

"What they're saying is, 'We would like to help Scottish football', and I can't even get that moving."

Budge said that the SPFL's response to the offer was to ask her to "put a paper in and they will discuss it next week".

She said: "I'm offering them money! Not my money. I don't think it should be for me to say, 'Here's a pot of money, this is how I think it should be spent'.

"This is what is frustrating me more than anything. We are not addressing the right problems at all and people aren't armed with all of the information."

As things stand, Hearts will be playing in the Championship next season, having been relegated in bottom spot when the Premiership was called with eight games remaining.

"The inherent unfairness of it is why I'm still talking about it," said Budge, who reiterated that legal action is her least favoured option to address what she sees as the Tynecastle club being wronged by their relegation.

"I put forward a paper which I want to be viewed as a discussion document.

"I'm not precious at all about 14-14-14. What I want to progress is the discussions. We need to start the dialogue. I feel like we have been treading water for weeks and nothing is happening."

Responding to claims by the likes of Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor that her proposal is fuelled by self-interest, Budge said: "If it hadn't been Hearts there, no, I might not have been fighting so hard but I can assure you I would have been voting for change.

"If I go right back to 15 March, I wrote to the SPFL and said we need to look at this so that clubs don't suffer. What I got back was a letter that basically said, 'Yes, if you would like to do the work and tell us what articles need changed, we'll look at it'.

"That is not what I expect from the governing body. I expect them to take more leadership.

"I should not be the one who's trying to come up with some solution. I and many others can see a tsunami coming towards us. Certain clubs cannot play behind closed doors. Other clubs don't want to for business reasons.

"Everybody knows we have to make a change. Let's make a change proactively rather than waiting for clubs getting into difficulty. It's a nonsense."

Budge says that manager Daniel Stendel now "technically does not have a contract," but stopped short of confirming the German will leave the club.

[RandomGuy.]

2 minutes ago, paranoid android said:

Why are you so angry about this? 

A football club is trying to exploit smaller clubs who are struggling to survive by offering them a bribe.

I was the exact same when Rangers started hawking around lower league sides a month or so back to try and force Colt sides into the set up.

You likely didnt notice because, like everyone at Hearts, not one of you gave a single f**k about smaller clubs back then.

[kingjoey]

3 minutes ago, paranoid android said:

Why are you so angry about this? 

Why have you taken that post as "anger"? I would call it "sensible".

[TonyFerrino]

6 minutes ago, paranoid android said:

Why are you so angry about this? 

I don't wish to speak for the boy but I suspect, like most, he's tired of Hearts and her pish and the amount of fluffing they get from the BBC.

No challenges, no awkward questions, nothing. Just fawning and forelock tugging for a woman who can't even finish a single tier stand and has related Hearts, spunking millions in the process.  It's pretty tragic.  

 

[paranoid android]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

A football club is trying to exploit smaller clubs who are struggling to survive by offering them a bribe.

I was the exact same when Rangers started hawking around lower league sides a month or so back to try and force Colt sides into the set up.

You likely didnt notice because, like everyone at Hearts, not one of you gave a single f**k about smaller clubs back then.

It's usually the case that there's no such thing as a free lunch - she's said publicly that there will be 'no strings' attached - she'll have to stand by that, or she'll look even worse than she already does.

I did take notice - I'm very much against colt sides joining the leagues, and have been consistently. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm away up the road to shout at my ma's hearing aid for as long as I can hold in a pish.

 

[Junior Pub League]

9 minutes ago, WALMOT said:

From the BBC Football website:-

Hearts owner Ann Budge says "philanthropists" have approached her offering millions of pounds to help lower-league clubs 

 

[paranoid android]

7 minutes ago, kingjoey said:

Why have you taken that post as "anger"? I would call it "sensible".

I'm not just talking about one post. 

[RandomGuy.]

3 minutes ago, paranoid android said:

It's usually the case that there's no such thing as a free lunch - she's said publicly that there will be 'no strings' attached - she'll have to stand by that, or she'll look even worse than she already does.

No she wont, because nobody ever challenges her.

Shes just moaned on national radio about not being able to give the SPFL a wad of cash from unknown sources because they wanted to do checks on it and have it all legally confirmed first, and not one person told her that the SPFL have done nothing wrong in that scenario.

This time next week she'll no doubt be having another wee rant about something and this offer of money will mysteriously have disappeared, only being brought up by staunch Hearts fans as apparent proof of corruption, despite the opposite being true.

[kingjoey]

3 minutes ago, paranoid android said:

I'm not just talking about one post. 

Ach, he's a good lad really.

[vikingTON]

At least Budge has now made it to the 'bargaining' stage of accepting that her team are doon.

[Fife Saint]

This becomes more ludicrous by the second.

Doncaster's statement implies that he was aware of these mysterious money bags and there WERE conditions. One of these two is going to have less credibility than they had yesterday which I didn't think was possible.

[DA Baracus]

54 minutes ago, King_Of_Kings said:

I think Doncaster was under the impression that the money was conditional on Hearts staying up as he said that this afternoon is the first he's heard of the 'No strings attached' part.

 

42 minutes ago, RossBFaeDundee said:

Doncaster calling her bluff on this, which I like. Clearly the first he's heard about this money being 'no-strings attached', and he'll see if that is indeed the case. I sure hope Ann wouldn't be lying about that, dear oh dear. That would be problematic.

Yup, she's at it. She's clearly mentioned it to Doncaster but has also clearly implied, at the least, that it absolutely is conditional.

33 minutes ago, kingjoey said:

You need to listen to things carefully. He did say that, but the context was that he was having a go at Willie Miller who says that fairly frequently.

No, he was saying it himself.

[capt_oats]

2 minutes ago, Fife Saint said:

This becomes more ludicrous by the second.

Doncaster's statement implies that he was aware of these mysterious money bags and there WERE conditions. One of these two is going to have less credibility than they had yesterday which I didn't think was possible.

In fairness it wouldn't be the first time Budge has been economical with the truth when being fluffed in a Sportsound interview. Tom English's incredulous "are you saying successful business woman Ann Budge doesn't know the difference between a loan and and advance?" shout springs to mind.

It turns out either she didn't know the difference or she was deliberately obfuscating.

Given the way this entire shambles as played out I'd be surprised if Budge hasn't been deliberately misleading in one way or another here.

If Budge and Hearts could kindly f**k off that would be smashing.

[TonyFerrino]

And to think these Hearts roasters were going on about Lawell buying Dundee's vote, which is clearly pish, and here they are trying to bribe an entire fucking national football league system.

Another one to add to the roll of honours.  

 

[Green Day]

28 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Shes just moaned on national radio about not being able to give the SPFL a wad of cash from unknown sources because they wanted to do checks on it and have it all legally confirmed first, and not one person told her that the SPFL have done nothing wrong in that scenario.

This is the bit that really gets my goat.

These clowns were almost apoplectic (I thought Preston was going to implode) with rage that the SPFL had not just said "yes, this is the bank account and sort code details" without doing some due diligence.

If it is true that some philanthropist wants to prop up the league then thats utterly amazing.................however there are questions that the SPFL would need to ask about the money and presumably they would also need to decide on fair distribution etc.

Gordon said that they had invited Doncaster................but I doubt that they said they were going to be playing this "expose" on todays show. I am 100% sure that if they said that Budge was going to allege that he turned down several million free quids that he would have been straight on the phone.

But what has happened is that the BBC allowed this to become "a scandal" when its probable that none exists.

I dont blame Budge for pulling every lever to save her club, but the BBC really needs to stop allowing itself to be used - its amateur stuff.

[IrishBhoy]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

Richard Gordon with the chat that Dundee United are 'back where they should be'. 

Hate that nonsense. 

It’s unreal. I think some of these pundits would be happy if we had a top flight with the 12 biggest supported teams, with no relegation or promotion. They don’t seem to grasp a league system. 
 

I don’t think I’ve ever heard similar statements south of the border. We don’t hear from pundits down there slating Bournemouth for not being deserving of a place in the top league, in the same way that Hamilton get unfairly slated up here. Or the fawning over teams like Leeds or Nottingham Forrest and how they should be Premier League clubs similar to what we heard from the media when Dundee United, Hibs and Hearts were in the Championship. 

[Diamonds are Forever]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

If she didnt do it then she refused.

She said herself she was asked to put it in an official document so it could be put to a vote next week, and that hasnt been done.

The SPFL cant just accept a bag of money no strings attached and only absolute fucking morons believe they could. Every time she speaks she comes across worse.

 

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We've had weeks of the media, led by Tom English, slating the SPFL for operating in an 'underhand way' let's say and not having proper procedures in place. Then when a bunch of 'philanthropist' Hearts fans suddenly offer to chuck millions of pounds at Scottish football clubs 'with no strings attached' they work themselves into a frenzy when he follows procedure and essentially says 'I dont know Anne, that sounds a bit dodgy, can you write that down in detail before we take it seriously please'. If he'd taken her 'offer' at face value and put it to members without asking for more details first he would have been slated, and rightly so.

Never thought I'd be on here siding with Doncaster, but anyone with half a brain knows there is another motive here - which is why no-one on Sportsound (other than Willie Miller) seemed to think there was an issue with it. The guy on from Dundee Utd was also pretty good and immediately pointed out that the SPFL were absolutely right to ask for this in writing, just after all the clowns had got themselves all raging about them doing just that.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Diamonds are Forever