Boycott

[jagfox]

I've been boycotting since 2007...

[Jaggy Snake]

8 hours ago, velo army said:

I was planning on making it a single demand type of boycott, and the sacking of McLeish is a decent place to start seeing as it's so badly needed and was such a shitty appointment in the first place.

That's exactly the kind of protest that would not get my backing. @BigFatTabbyDave already outlined a lot of the arguments in his post.

For starters, there's no point in getting McLeish sacked for the same people who appointed him to do the same thing all over again. When the news broke at the weekend that Scunthorpe had sacked Stuart McCall I joked to a friend that he'd be the next Scotland manager. Whilst I wouldn't expect him to get the job, I also wouldn't be surprised if the SFA actually considered him a reasonable candidate.

More importantly, picking on the current manager seems churlish and both the SFA & media will just portray it as fans being upset with recent results - nothing else. This thread (and plenty of other Scotland threads) is filled with people saying they stopped going years ago - McLeish had absolutely nothing to do with that and therefore shouldn't be a key point of the protest.

[Dons_1988]

9 hours ago, velo army said:

I like the idea of the balls protest.

 

Just read this without any context and laughed. That's all.

[velo army]

1 hour ago, Jaggy Snake said:

That's exactly the kind of protest that would not get my backing. @BigFatTabbyDave already outlined a lot of the arguments in his post.

For starters, there's no point in getting McLeish sacked for the same people who appointed him to do the same thing all over again. When the news broke at the weekend that Scunthorpe had sacked Stuart McCall I joked to a friend that he'd be the next Scotland manager. Whilst I wouldn't expect him to get the job, I also wouldn't be surprised if the SFA actually considered him a reasonable candidate.

More importantly, picking on the current manager seems churlish and both the SFA & media will just portray it as fans being upset with recent results - nothing else. This thread (and plenty of other Scotland threads) is filled with people saying they stopped going years ago - McLeish had absolutely nothing to do with that and therefore shouldn't be a key point of the protest.

Aye this is an excellent point.

In my eagerness to go for modest and immediate goals I hadn't considered those negative optics.

It does need to be about change at the top. We need to start a movement, essentially. A fans' pressure group which aims to force change at the top. There is a blueprint for this already in the McLeish report if I remember correctly. It needs to steer clear from the Hamish Husband types and shortbread tin nationalists (although the latter might be inescapable) but I think there is now an appetite for it.

[John Lambies Doos]

Surely in the 21st century nobody is still called Hamish.

It's the Scottish Gaelic for James, just like Seamus is the Irish Gaelic. Would imagine it's quite popular in Western isles and Gaelic speaking pockets.

[red23]

 

This picture to me sums everything up. Three utterly clueless looking people. One who's only there because of who his dad is and two who are completely past it, still remembering football back in the 70's and won't ever change and you know why? they don't know how.

"Ha! I don't use any of those whizmo gizmo computers, moira types my emails for me"

"Bosnia? aren't they still at war?"

I'll bet you one thing, the SFA's members average age will be about 70, the corridors within the offices will smell like an old persons home, with an overpowering smell of pish and shite.

Edited March 26, 2019 by red23

[Glenconner]

15 minutes ago, red23 said:

 

This picture to me sums everything up. Three utterly clueless looking people. One who's only there because of who his dad is and two who are completely past it, still remembering football back in the 70's and won't ever change and you know why? they don't know how.

"Ha! I don't use any of those whizmo gizmo computers, moira types my emails for me"

"Bosnia? aren't they still at war?"

I'll bet you one thing, the SFA's members average age will be about 70, the corridors within the offices will smell like an old persons home, with an overpowering smell smell of pish and shite.

Brothers

[John Lambies Doos]

 
This picture to me sums everything up. Three utterly clueless looking people. One who's only there because of who his dad is and two who are completely past it, still remembering football back in the 70's and won't ever change and you know why? they don't know how.
"Ha! I don't use any of those whizmo gizmo computers, moira types my emails for me"
"Bosnia? aren't they still at war?"
I'll bet you one thing, the SFA's members average age will be about 70, the corridors within the offices will smell like an old persons home, with an overpowering smell of pish and shite.

Last away game I went to was the Yesfest in Dortmund 2014. The Scottish team happened to be staying at our hotel (Radisson) near the stadium. Match was on Sunday and on the Saturday the coach arrived. These c***s got out first and waltzed straight into bar where they ordered food drinks etc on the company dime. Celebration of failure. Makes me so fucking mad that as a nation we accept this.

[lanky_ffc]

Still find it absolutely mental that whilst our neighbours consistently appoint Chairmen who've been in charge of Premier League clubs, our President is somebody who once ran Cove Rangers

[Jason King]

15 minutes ago, lanky_ffc said:

Still find it absolutely mental that whilst our neighbours consistently appoint Chairmen who've been in charge of Premier League clubs, our President is somebody who once ran Cove Rangers

Ah the Jim Traynor / Gerry McNee attack of "how can someone from Brechin City/Cove/Falkirk" be in charge of the national game.

Its totally irrelevant which club they are from, their competence should always be the biggest factor. I dont care if the next head of the SFA is from Albion Rovers, Celtic, Real Madrid, Auchinshoogle Primrose or Craig Whyte so long as they can actually do the job in an appropriately competent way.

[Rovers_Lad]

Followed Scotland for best part of 50 years with my first tournament  74 WC.Took me a long time to see the light but got totally disillusioned a few years ago and thats when my boycott started.Unlikely to be back

[DA Baracus]

5 hours ago, Jason King said:

Ah the Jim Traynor / Gerry McNee attack of "how can someone from Brechin City/Cove/Falkirk" be in charge of the national game.

Its totally irrelevant which club they are from, their competence should always be the biggest factor. I dont care if the next head of the SFA is from Albion Rovers, Celtic, Real Madrid, Auchinshoogle Primrose or Craig Whyte so long as they can actually do the job in an appropriately competent way.

Exactly. A quick look at the guys who ran Celtic before McCann or David Murray at Rangers and then the guys at Sevco, as well as guys like Romanov and Mercer at Hearts, the Marrs at Dundee, John Boyle at Motherwell, Johnston at Kilmarnock, Milne at Aberdeen and countless others.

Even now we have folk who seem financially sound (or at least sounder) but have no idea or interest in the wider game, such at Budge at Hearts who wants to pretty much kill off half of the SPFL, and the continuing charade at Sevco.

 

We need fresh thoughts/ideas/voices in the SFA, but most of the folk who run our clubs should be anywhere near it.

Edited March 26, 2019 by DA Baracus

[Raidernation]

I’ll boycott every home game [emoji23]

[Gordopolis]

Trying to take stock here, and from what I can see there is a lot of dissatisfaction but no clear consensus on where that should be directed. FWIW I agree with the posts in the last page or so re demanding McLeish's sacking will have the unwanted side effect of perpetuating the SFA's current way of doing things. In other words, we'll be at the mercy of their piss-poor recruitment for a replacement manager.

I also noted with interest this morning that ROI are planning a tennis ball protest this evening vs Georgia (to which Mick McCarthy quipped "I'd better bring a racquet then"), and I do think there is more to be gained from an 'active' protest as opposed to simply staying away, which can be glossed-over too easily. But Scarf rightly argued that  fans paying into the game then protesting probably suits the SFA to an extent, as they get their money and keep their balance sheet looking healthy.

So with all that in mind, perhaps an effective approach could be:

• Form a mini-manifesto. Nothing tangled or slippery. Basically a one-liner demanding revolution at the SFA.
• Boycott the Cyprus game.
• Those who boycott it don't just stay away, but go to Hampden and gather outside on matchday. Imagine , say, 10k inside and 15k outside and singing louder. It'd be a hell of an embarrassment for the SFA and it would certainly attract media attention (Sky, BBC etc would all be there). Also, crucially, the SFA wouldn't get their pennies out of the protestors.

Anyway, that's my two penneth. Feel free to give this post downvotes on 9th June after we all end up getting water cannoned and chased by police horses.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Gordopolis

[Jaggy Snake]

12 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

Anyway, that's my two penneth. Feel free to give this post downvotes on 9th June after we all end up getting water cannoned and chased by police horses.

I didn't know horses could operate water cannons. Impressive.

[Gordopolis]

2 minutes ago, Jaggy Snake said:

I didn't know horses could operate water cannons. Impressive.

Literal ambiguity! Or badly-worded sentence... I hereby withdraw myself from the running to write the 'nothing tangled or slippery' manifesto

Edited March 26, 2019 by Gordopolis

[SouthLanarkshireWhite]

22 hours ago, GordonS said:

From the late 80s I used to go to almost every home game, then from the mid 2000s I stopped going to friendlies because the team and management clearly weren't taking them seriously at all. I was an SSC member from about 2003 to 2011-ish. I was still going to every competitive game until the mental price hike in 2014. I remember watching the Georgia game on TV and feeling pretty bitter.

In the Euro 2016 qualifiers I only went to the Germany and Poland games; I haven't been since and can't see me going back until an awful lot changes. The SFA's utter inability to develop football in Scotland, the ticket prices, the terrible football, but also how shit it is to sit in the family section behind the goals at Hampden, miles away from the pitch and on a low rake. 

Then at the Poland game, for the first time in decades at a football game I didn't feel we were completely safe. There were Polish cnuts with flares everywhere, and at seats for which they didn't have tickets. I saw one family go home before the match had even kicked off because of a gang of Poles at the seats. The stewards had lost control of the ground and one that I spoke to looked genuinely scared. I was also raging at loads of ignorant adults in the family section without kids, standing and preventing kids from being able to see.

So yeah, I've been doing a one-family boycott for three and a half years and I can't see it changing any time soon. I'll sign up if there's something to sign up to, because I really miss it and I'd definitely be there for every game if things improve.

This. Stopped going 3 years ago after several spoiled games in the family section with people pished out their heads, standing up (kids can't see), swearing non-stop and at the same time having to cough up more to watch drivel for the privilege. Not to mention rushing away early from work to get there when not on a Saturday. I was a club member from the early nineties but I cannot see myself going back. Ever.

Did not even watch the games in the last week on TV.

[Trackdaybob]

31 minutes ago, SouthLanarkshireWhite said:

Did not even watch the games in the last week on TV.

Lucky b*****d. 

[notsofedupendie]

 
This picture to me sums everything up. Three utterly clueless looking people. One who's only there because of who his dad is and two who are completely past it, still remembering football back in the 70's and won't ever change and you know why? they don't know how.
"Ha! I don't use any of those whizmo gizmo computers, moira types my emails for me"
"Bosnia? aren't they still at war?"
I'll bet you one thing, the SFA's members average age will be about 70, the corridors within the offices will smell like an old persons home, with an overpowering smell of pish and shite.

I think you’re spot on. I was “fortunate” enough to be invited to the VIP lounge/seating area for a recent SC semi-final. The lounge was full of the “great and the good” of Scottish football (aka top level hangers-on) and SFA blazers. Two things struck me ..the incredible level of cronyism on display and how amazingly amateurish the whole operation was. Everyone was patting each other on the back whilst knocking back copious amounts of booze and filling their faces. Nothing wrong with that if you’ve paid your dues but it was pretty obvious that many (most?) of the attendees didn’t fall into that category. At one point Alan McRae stood up to make a speech. It was possibly the worst I’ve ever heard. A rambling, incoherent load of waffle .. he even had to be reminded to thank the sponsor ... it was beyond embarrassing and was something that you would’ve cringed at hearing at the local bowling club. If that was any indication of the level of incompetence and self-interest at play in the SFA then you can forget about ever qualifying for a tournament again. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

[SouthLanarkshireWhite]

It is a bit like Brexit - there is no easy solution. The SFA will not allow a change of governance as that would mean they may get voted out. Disillusionment will continue, players will pull out more often and so it descends. There is no one waiting in the wings to take over. And so it goes on.

A few years ago I was a bit miffed at Davie Provan discussing Clyde on radio and saying it was a shame but just not enough people cared anymore about the club.

He was right. The national team are going the same way just 20 years later.