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Speaking of Bob Marley, My mate just phoned me in tears ,his wife just left him taking his Bob Marley CDs and the satellite dish. Poor bastard. No woman no sky. I'll get ma coat.

Honestly, I feel like a football dunce. Every day I read about people linked with Rangers who I've never heard of, then I learn they play for some obscure club in French Guyana, Botswana, Bolivia, Moldova, etc ..... but everyone else already knows all about them - what position they play, who they scored against with their left foot, etc. How do people find the time or inclination to be such experts on world football ...... and why aren't they starring on Mastermind?

Since 1888, it's been an insatiable consummation. Six Irish immigrant families, mostly Publicans decide to form a football club, inspired by Edinburgh based Irish immigrants that had formed Hibernian. They found land, rented it for a few months, and filled in the quarry with over 200, 000 voluntary carts of soil/aggregate. a Football field was created, two Grandstands built(one privately owned by the Glass family), and a velodrome installed. Two successful football clubs were invited to play an exhibition match, Renton and Hibs provided the entree, subsequently divided into better halves, they became ra Sellik. The original Hibs were dissolved and Renton succumbed to Junior football. It's how it began. A club that these days claims it was open to all at it's founding, set out in the late 1880s/early 1890s to morally compromise rc players to play for the rc club. This included players originally at Rangers such as Neil McCallum and Doc Kivlichan. The opprobrium faced by the early Sellik was a result of continuous stealing of other clubs' players. Such arrogance so casually displayed was an anathema. The epitome was a priest in Falkirk smuggling a Falkirk FC player(who was rc) out of the town in a hand cart, during silent hours to meet Sellik officials in the morning. Appropriation was in with the building blocks. In my lifetime, ra Sellik have stolen Liverpool's 'You'll never walk alone' and claimed it as their own. Producers at BBC Scotland made the documentary, not telling the listenership they were BBC Producers. They told of the emotion singing the song, visualising their deceased mothers whilst belting out lyrics about suicide. Barcelona FC were next, they were more than a club. However, ra Sellik's sense of vicTIMhood was such, they were more worthy of the statement ie ra Sellik had suffered 40 years of subjugation by Franco. The support wanted to believe it, it became so, as it had for almost 100 years before. Cultural appropriation is their rite of passage. The latest sack of pysh is His Bobness of Marley was a mad, mental Sellik supporter. Yep, a born'n'bred Jamaican from the blue mountains, became hooked on ra green;n;grey hooped horrors in the early/mid sixties by tuning into the BBC World Service. Lying in his cot, he had foresaken rock steady and ska blasted by Prince Buster's sound system, to hear tales of Seezur and Jinky. They crave it, it, it's what they want, it's how it should be. Why? This well trod path of least resistance does not belong to Yahoos in exclusivity. My introduction to Bob was in 1973, he appeared with the Wailers on the Old Grey Whistle Test. I bought 'Catch a Fire' the following weekend. I was in a world of Bob, Bunny, Peter Tosh, Family Man, .....etc. It confirmed my preferred prejudice, Island Records also had Free on the label, and who amplified better tone than Paul Kossoff? My first year at Uni' in 1974 began most days in a flat in Great George Street with 'Stir it Up', first track, second side of the Wailers first Island album. In June'76, we took the Union mini-bus to Bellevue, Manchester to see, more appropriately worship at the altar of Bob. A haze of ganja enveloped the auditorium, but no mention of ra Sellik. Bob's wikipedia tells of a life long support for Santos, he loved Pele. Bob was raised catholic but converted to Rastafarianism. He played football constantly whilst in London but never journeyed 400 miles to watch ra Sellik. He passed 40 years past without mentioning the bad word. What encourages the Yahoos conviction, other than desire? I would encourage the separated entity to continue their next cultural appropriation by focusing their attention upon the Bob tribute act, 'Big Jah Knew and the Wail, Wailers'. Their A cappella rendition of Three little boys by my doorstep, singing sweet songs .... will blow your cheese. Martin Luther King Junior did lots of good things, why don't ra Sellik appropriate him?

My recollection is that the judge said that both clubs accepting arbitration wouldn't preclude them returning to court.

It's been 8 weeks since Michael Stewart last appeared on BBC Scotland. His last several contributions were as an outraged Foundation of Hearts member, "the decision to relegate both Hearts and Thistle is unjust". Mikey now works for Sellik TV, will they allow him broadcast time to protest this latest decision to relegate both clubs? Further, Mikey was telling us that Neil Doncaster, Rod(the Fraud) McKenzie, and Shifty McGifty were "good guys", undeserving of Rangers emanating ire. Does Michael share Neil's delight at today's decision? We should be told.

From a purely Rangers point of view, at least the season will now be able to start next weekend but the entire affair has to be seen as a triumph for the SPFL. They've ridden roughshod over any last vestige of fair play that still lurked in Scottish football, served the interests of Celtic as they are obliged to do and served a harsh lesson to any other clubs who might think about challenging their right to ensure continued success for the One Club. I imagine Neil Doncaster will hand over the reins to his chosen successor over the next few months and the impression will be cultivated of a fresh start for all, while ensuring nothing changes at all. I don't think Scottish society has ever been better represented by its football bodies. Shit will always be appropriate in a shithole.

Once this went to the SFA arbitration panel there was only going to be one outcome. Can only sympathise with hearts & partick thistle. Another disgraceful day in Scottish football

Hearts going to the wall - positive for me. Rancid club with a growing number of rancid fans. Had hoped they won this case for the good of Scottish Football but showed zero sympathy for us in 2013 and fans were amongst the most vocal.

Only if legal process wasn't followed? However Court of Arbitration for Sport could be a possibility?

I was pleased to see Villa stay up, but the clip of them singing 'Sweet Caroline' in celebration has made me reconsider.

Indeed he was. His daughter, also a doctor, stayed across the road from my parents for a number of years. Doc Kivlichan's name was William, known as Willie.

That's it all over the scousers finally won the title the two Manchester teams and Chelsea join them in the champions league next season along with spurs Leicester and Wolves in the Thursday night cup Sheffield had a decent season Villa managed to survive but I think the best was from Southampton to get thrashed nine nil at home stand by their coach and finish in a respectable eleventh position was a good comeback. Roll on September the twelfth and with some luck maybe some fans in attendance.

This is all the fault of a very very good friend of mine who wrote Dixie Deans book , let’s just say Dixie didn’t have the best memory and my mate was really struggling to get this book written, there are quite a few other tales in the book that simply didn’t happen . And that is the truth , the whole truth and nothing but the truth , so help me god .

Oh for the days of Wee Wullie,Davy Wilson,Alex Scott and also last century Davy Cooper,Brian Laudrop what fluidity they had, run at defences,turn them inside out, and just score if need be. In the words of song "Oh it was so simple then or has time re-written every line,if we could do it all again would we could we?",sorry just dreaming and woke up. Never mind come on the Gers.

There must be better out there than those 3 mentioned within our budget. i remember when Morelos was mentioned as being a possible signing his goals to games ratio in Finland was impressive, and given his age and the ambition shown by leaving family behind to chase his dream it all sounded really good. It is that sort of player we are looking for, a natural and hungry goal scorer who has that winning mentality. These 3 are not anywhere near that level going by those stats. Gray is so inconsistent his photo should be beside the description of inconsistent in the dictionary. Unplayable one in 20 games, pretty good in maybe another few but utterly useless in far too many, 14 in 84 sounds about right for him. Avoid.

As Mack says, it was a corner kick so cant really go down as a miss.

That's the way we felt since 2012,how we feel today and will in the future so now we push and fart against the wind but don't seem to be able to beat the "cabal"

Yes that's the one I was talking about but the highlight doesn't carry on to show we got a corner as it was deflected.

Harry Wragg sez more: Message to the Partick Thistle Family Monday 27th July, 2020 at 5:20pm The last four months have been an emotional rollercoaster for all of us who are part of the Partick Thistle family. No one expected a pandemic on the scale that hit the country in March. It’s been difficult at times to feel that football was important in the face of so much loss. But we could not ignore what was happening. Relegation isn’t just about what league you play in. It’s about everyone who plays for us, the staff who work at the club, our partners and sponsors, volunteers and, most importantly, our fans. With a 144-year history, we had a responsibility to ensure that if there was a chance to overturn an unfair situation, we had to do all we could. At every turn, we tried our best to get involved positively to ensure that no club would be left worse off as a result of an early end to the season. We tried to find a way through by making our views clear but decently and respectfully. Having exhausted every avenue, when we were presented with the opportunity to join with Hearts to fight this injustice, at no cost to the club, we took it. But it was not to be. So we draw a line, we have taken the fight to its conclusion. Our sole focus and our energy is now on the season ahead. Our key word for the year ahead is “success” not “survival”. The Board has already approved a financially responsible and balanced budget for season 2020/21 that gives the manager what he asked for to achieve everyone’s desire for an immediate return to the Championship. The fightback has started. But I ask everyone associated with Thistle to never forget today. To never forget how it feels to be relegated unfairly. To never forget that there are many good decent people and clubs in Scotland who stood with us, publicly and privately – but there are some whose fear and self-interest got in the way of doing the right thing. The Board, CEO and I are grateful for the unwavering support as we have navigated our way through this crisis. This is now a defining moment in our history, it’s time to stand together and make season 2020/21 a winning one regardless of what the rest of football says or does. We have every right to be angry. So let’s use that anger as the fuel that drives our campaign in 2020/21. This is now about Thistle, no one else. Our fate and our success once again lies in our own hands and our hands only. Jacqui Low, Chairman, Partick Thistle FC. https://ptfc.co.uk/ptfc-news/message-to-the-partick-thistle-family/

A quick Google search Josh Maja 23 goals in his last 70 games Isaac Atanga 7 goals in his last 26 games Andre Gray 14 goals in his last 84 games Not exactly mouthwatering

So we'll never know. Even if the tribunal panel stood up and said "since the three of us are all Celtic fans, you two clubs can just fuck off", we'll never know.

It is suggested that Gray's arrival would not be dependent upon Freddo's departure.

Andre Gray on loan from Watford, we hear. Not an unimpeachable source, but allegedly the player is keen.

I think that's probably for the best.

Pacific Quay versus Salford. On Friday morning last, Rangers supporters awoke to lurid headlines generated by a Daily Record exclusive. Klaxon Jackson had penned a piece claiming Rangers were subject to a SFA probe predicated upon Rangers fielding up to nine players without Covid-19 negative results, against Motherwell during Wednesday evening's pre-season friendly. Stand-in Chair of the SFA, Mike Mulraney was progressing the probe as Rangers may have breached testing protocols? PQ loved the story and copied it word for word, placing the fantasy on their website and Scots CeeFax news service as lead item. At this point, we should consider Klaxon Jackson. Humanity owes Keith, he allowed Apollo 15's moon buggy to be trial tested on his face for a year, back in the day. A legacy of florid, corned beef complexion is coupled with a chip on his shoulder. The company doing the testing for ten of the Scots Premiership clubs(including Rangers) is English based, Signpost take 48 hrs to receive, test, and return results. St Mirren had seven positive tests readdressed to six false positives. The leak is at Signpost, the Record paid for confidential information? We should be told. Spiteful Keith's impatience appeared in print. At the same time, BBC Salford took a different take on the story during Friday morning. On it's CeeFax football pages and football website, it reported, "the SFA has written to Rangers, Motherwell, and Hibs reference the possibility of a breach in Covid-19 testing". Note, the expanse to three clubs involved, the omission of Mike Mulraney, and no assumption of guilt. By midday, PQ had revised their effort, Mulraney's name disappeared and the Dundee United game at Auchinhowie was the focus. The story disappeared from CeeFax news, and became the last item on the website. Step forward Chris McLaughlin, he did a piece to camera for BBC Scotland's lunchtime news bulletin. It was outside St Mirren's ground and focused on false positives. Rangers were now an aside at the end of the broadcast, "meanwhile, it has emerged Rangers face an SFA probe into whether the club may have breached testing protocols". Again, PQ's website changed to a single sentence, "As many as nine Rangers players may have played in a bounce game against Dundee United on Wednesday without having received negative Covid-19 test results". By early evening PQ had dropped the item, some 4-5 hours after BBC Salford had arrived at the same decision. Mulraney had been clearly over exposed by both Klaxon and PQ. As usual, several hours too late, professional Arab Yahoo, Jum Spence came to the party and had this line on his Twitter feed, "Dundee United have a right to be absolutely raging". May I remind PQ, and Salford, the Daily Record has had a commercial arrangement with Sellik for several years(they print and publish both ra Sellik View and the matchday programme). PQ are vicTIMS of their own making, recently they decided not to attribute stories on the website to Journos. It has become like Sportscene ie no credits. PQ's Online Producer is Stefan Bienkowski. A former Sellik 'zine Editor and Blogger. Who can forget his credited story on the PQ website in December'19? Stefan demanded the cancellation of the then upcoming General Election because on the night of the poll, "15,000 Celtic supporters will be in Romania, and those missing votes could crucially effect the election outcome". The next time Stand-in Chair of the SFA, Mike Mulraney wants a probe, I suggest he starts with both Stefan and Klaxon. Use two yards of fibre optic without lubrication.

You may be right, and inability to reach a decision would, I imagine, require referral to the Courts (or abandonment of the case). However if there was a clear legal mistake or misconstruction on the part of the panel, or there was evidence that a witness, or witnesses, had been economical with the truth, then I do think that this would give cause to have the matter heard before the Bench. Ultimately, who knows? Lawyers that's who. I think that there is a tendency, among ourselves, to conflate the Rangers' case v SPFL, as elaborated in the published dossier, and the case(s) of Hertz and the Jags. Yet, if we think about it, the Rangers position was about prosecuting abject failure in corporate governance, while the H/J pursued reversal of unjustified relegation. Now while there may be overlaps, and H/J may have used certain evidence from the dossier, their focus would have been on the specific matter of relegation, and I think it likely that they would not have broadened their case to include the whole area of corporate mis-governance/malfeasance/maladministration, etc. The time constraint under which all operated itself would have required this, anyway. It seems, to me, for example, that there would have been a need to collect sworn depositions from many people, re: the bullying and extortion. If they concentrated -understandably and necessarily- on their narrow interests they may have done themselves no favours. In short, it may just be that H/J fucked up.

I think that they would have to have, and to be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Court, sufficient grounds, procedural , legal, or evidential.

The biggest problem with arbitration as a means of settling disputes is the basis for the decision will never be disclosed.

Possibly, yes. However, as a baseline, Tranfermrkt has him valued at around £6M, which is not outwith the realms of possibility. (OK-- you have to take those valuations with a huge chunk of salt.) I thought Kent and Hagi were out of our budget at the time.

I like the profile of Maja: young, emerging talent, with a clear sell-on value. From the clips I've seen there's two strikers there: the League One striker with Sunderland was quite raw, picking the ball up anywhere and running; and then with Bordeaux his goals have come from the penalty box. (I reckon at Sunderland he was played wide, whereas with Bordeaux he was a striker.) The latter striker is more important to me, because he was in a packed box, getting on the end of crosses by creating that wee bit of space for himself. He certainly looks like he has the athleticism to deal with our game, but he's perhaps not got the finesse, yet. He's not prolific, but to be fair, he was too young at Sunderland and is not starting every game at Bordeaux.

Absolutely spot on. You can imagine the fans reaction after being pumped 9 - 0 at home. The club backed him and the transformation is quite remarkable. Their counter attacking football is a joy to watch. Contrast that to Watford who's reputation for sacking managers is renown. They appoint Pearson when rooted at bottom of the league then sack him with 2 games to go when 3 points outside relegation zone! Sheer lunacy. You reap what you sow. No sympathy. ?

Solskjaer did his chances of keeping the job no harm. Left it late to claim a CL spot but made it at the last gasp despite appearing to be also rans for a large part of the season.