RandomGuy. Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 11 minutes ago, DA Baracus said: What a hideous article full of disgraceful, condescending pish. The shit about the lower leagues being a 'non event' and a 'graveyard' is abysmal, sneering garbage from a fucking moron (especially since the team he claims to win is no stranger to the lower leagues if he means under the top flight, which the article implies). Also simply not true and never has been true. Laughable how well this nonsense aged too. 'Astute businessman' indeed! 4 minutes ago, gannonball said: That 2nd last paragraph is terrible. The style of writing and up selling says Tam Cowan but the sheer arrogance and soup taking suggest Traynor however think he was still pretending to be an Airdrie fan then so perhaps not. Aye its Tam Cowan, there was more too it aswell but couldnt be arsed screenshotting it all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said: Aye its Tam Cowan, there was more too it aswell but couldnt be arsed screenshotting it all. Ah thought it was Chick Young (thus the line about his team). Makes more sense that it's Cowan. He is really clueless about Scottish football outwith Celtic/Sevco/Rangers and Motherwell. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMDPco Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 2 hours ago, gannonball said: Also tinhat on here but I don't quite get the bitterness and hatred towards Gretna tbh (St. Johnstone fans aside). If a philanthropist took over your club and wanted to spunk money on players outwith your level I doubt many would be complaining. It's not as if Brooks Mileson had much to do with the Scottish media so the whole 'fairytale' stuff wasn't really orchestrated PR by Gretna. Yes all of a sudden fans came from nowhere to support them but the same would happen if it happened to any other lower league club in Scotland, albeit Gretna are more of an extreme example of this due to having little fan base in the first place and size of town. This is just nonsense but understandable given the team you support. Lots of supporters of other teams in the lower divisions at the time were understandably angry at the financially doped rise and gave warnings that it would all go tits up - only to be dismissed by the media with the type of nonsense written above in amongst their puff pieces about how many bottles of lucozade Mileson drank a day. Clubs watched whole seasons being written off knowing they couldn't compete for a title against a side who was financially doped with the likes of Tosh, Grady, Bingham, etc. It was funny as f**k when they died tbf. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 The Alexander show where he was refused entry was the 1st game of the season where Falkirk cemented our status as the nation's darlings by smacking them about four nil. The fairytale pish caught everyone up in its midst. I clearly remember even the widely beloved Richard Gordon chuckling paternally and dribbling adjectives like "astonishing!" when Kenny Deuchar netted his xth goal in a 8 goal drubbing of some PE teachers and plumbers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 Another St Johnstone fan may have a better memory, but I have a distinct memory of us playing QOS the week Gretna went into administration. Both sets of fans were gleefully chanting about Gretna going bust. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 2 minutes ago, mizfit said: Another St Johnstone fan may have a better memory, but I have a distinct memory of us playing QOS the week Gretna went into administration. Both sets of fans were gleefully chanting about Gretna going bust. I recall Gretna quite aggressively marketed to kids in Dumfries and other nearby areas. Were they not chucking around loads of free tickets to schools in places like Dumfries and towns close/closer to Gretna? Think it was actually fairly successful in the short term. However a quick glance at Gretna 2008's crowds let you know how that's doing now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 4 minutes ago, mizfit said: Another St Johnstone fan may have a better memory, but I have a distinct memory of us playing QOS the week Gretna went into administration. Both sets of fans were gleefully chanting about Gretna going bust. Internet says... 10th March 2008 - Gretna file for administration 11th March 2008 - St Johnstone beat QOS 2-1 12th March 2008 - Gretna officially enter administration 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 3 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: Internet says... 10th March 2008 - Gretna file for administration 11th March 2008 - St Johnstone beat QOS 2-1 12th March 2008 - Gretna officially enter administration 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 7 minutes ago, DA Baracus said: I recall Gretna quite aggressively marketed to kids in Dumfries and other nearby areas. Were they not chucking around loads of free tickets to schools in places like Dumfries and towns close/closer to Gretna? Think it was actually fairly successful in the short term. However a quick glance at Gretna 2008's crowds let you know how that's doing now. They did, I remember speaking to someone from down that way who was handed Gretna tickets every other week at school. I think whilst the media and the Gretna “fans” might still push the living the dream mantra, there’s a reason the other 41 clubs don’t have a fond memory of them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketheheadlesschicken Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 A Roddy Forsyth article headlined “Humble Gretna out to capture the Hearts”. Humble ffs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 4 minutes ago, mizfit said: They did, I remember speaking to someone from down that way who was handed Gretna tickets every other week at school. I think whilst the media and the Gretna “fans” might still push the living the dream mantra, there’s a reason the other 41 clubs don’t have a fond memory of them. A team pumping other clubs most weeks is always going to appeal to some folk, so no surprise they were quite successful in attracting more folk along when firing around tickets. Also, away from Gretna, that aspic stuff from Cyprus looked hideous. Looked like dog food but so bad that actual dogs would refuse it. The Spanish peppers looked alright and the cheese stuff looked OK. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 1 minute ago, miketheheadlesschicken said: A Roddy Forsyth article headlined “Humble Gretna out to capture the Hearts”. Humble ffs. Just outright lies too. They were outbidding SPL teams for wages. Why else would players who could have played in the SPL or the First Division dropped down the leagues and made a long commute to Gretna?! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gannonball Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 (edited) 42 minutes ago, JMDPco said: This is just nonsense but understandable given the team you support. Lots of supporters of other teams in the lower divisions at the time were understandably angry at the financially doped rise and gave warnings that it would all go tits up - only to be dismissed by the media with the type of nonsense written above in amongst their puff pieces about how many bottles of lucozade Mileson drank a day. Clubs watched whole seasons being written off knowing they couldn't compete for a title against a side who was financially doped with the likes of Tosh, Grady, Bingham, etc. It was funny as f**k when they died tbf. Despite myself saying I was an outsider to it I was expecting and empty retort like this. You then go on about 'financial doping' which plenty of clubs in Scotland have had significant benefactors to allow them to sign players above there means, what's so different about Gretna compared to likes of others? And if your bothered about a self confessed ill informed 'journalist' like Cowan then there's no hope for you really. I didn't see a fairytale in Gretna nor did I see 'financial doping' which you have mentioned twice. I just saw a guy chuck money in to a club only for it go tits spectacularly after some success, nothing new about that in football really. Edited March 25, 2023 by gannonball 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarto Mutiny Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 In mitigation, Gretna walloping Dundee FC in the 2006 Scottish Cup semi final was, and always will be, utterly hilarious. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVIFOREVER Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 (edited) 29 minutes ago, mizfit said: They did, I remember speaking to someone from down that way who was handed Gretna tickets every other week at school. I think whilst the media and the Gretna “fans” might still push the living the dream mantra, there’s a reason the other 41 clubs don’t have a fond memory of them. Don't think Livi had any ill feeling towards them, we kinda did it before them, only didn't manage to win the old 1st div first time running after coming up from the 3rd and 2nd div, took us a 2nd season in the 1st to come up to the SPL, then finished 3rd and played in Europe, won a cup. By the time Gretna came along we were on a decline as they were on the rise, which is prob why we never managed a win against them. Some of our old players went to them too, Bingham, Tosh, they really didn't get up my nose at all with their living the dream. Nature of football fans to dislike other teams though, and take satisfaction when it all goes wrong, isn't particularly just a Gretna thing, i know i took delight seeing Falkirk drop down to the 3rd tier and struggle, after their fans gave Livi a lot of stick, and their crowdwank billy big baws attitudes, that's just what football fans do. Edited March 25, 2023 by LIVIFOREVER 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 14 minutes ago, DA Baracus said: Just outright lies too. They were outbidding SPL teams for wages. Why else would players who could have played in the SPL or the First Division dropped down the leagues and made a long commute to Gretna?! This was from an article in 2006, when Tosh was told he wasnt needed at Gretna anymore. They had just won the 2nd Division... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 10 minutes ago, gannonball said: nor did I see 'financial doping' In the Second Division they had multiple players on £2k+ a week with their manager, Rowan Alexander, on £100k a year. Thats more than some top flight sides are even spending now, and its highly likely the same as they were paying in the Third Division. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 (edited) 7 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: This was from an article in 2006, when Tosh was told he wasnt needed at Gretna anymore. They had just won the 2nd Division... Aye not sure who they thought they were fooling when they claimed they weren't chucking out huge wages. Don't blame any of the players too. In fact, good on them for bleeding the daft fuckers dry. Edited March 25, 2023 by DA Baracus 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVIFOREVER Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said: In the Second Division they had multiple players on £2k+ a week with their manager, Rowan Alexander, on £100k a year. Thats more than some top flight sides are even spending now, and its highly likely the same as they were paying in the Third Division. That's huge for that level yep, wages at that time were crazy in the top flight too, before clubs started cutting back to wages they could afford after a few went into admin, running at a loss and having bank loans was pretty much the norm back then. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 Thanks to AVFTT for reminding us all just how ghastly Gr£tna were. Revolting. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.