Uilleam

What about Provan?

There will be 7 days of concerted propaganda and pressure on the officials. Just watch, view, or listen. Fuck them all, say I.

Are you surprised? Actually, if you were a neutral would you find that Andy Walker added anything to your enjoyment, or understanding of the match?

I think that JG should perhaps stay in tonight, to avoid the vigilantes of sporting integrity.

A bit reckless, but he is a 'Ger; thus it was astonishing that he did not receive a red card, and a charge from the Procurator Fiscal. Personally, I enjoy decisions like this, as they send the fhilth and their fellators into fits. Wonderful to witness.

We really cannot complain with 6 (six) goals in the opposition net. A bit sticky, in places, at times, in the first half. Second half demonstrably better. Garner, whose signing has puzzled me since I first clapped eyes on him, seems much better as a penalty box centre forward. Acas were poor, mind, but how often has the team struggled against keech opposition? Of course, the referee could have viewed a no of 'incidents' differently, but a deserved and much needed victory. Onward and upward.

No Kiernan? Nah, you're probably right, he's not that good.

I believe that Sky Sports is covering the Chinese League.

No. It was Messi who 'phoned the DR.

.....and there is more..... https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2017/mar/03/why-china-is-investing-so-heavily-in-football-video?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Fiver+2016&utm_term=215863&subid=1042230&CMP=EMCFTBEML853

The campaign has started..... From today's Times A poor article, but don't shoot the messenger. Scotland: the worst title race in Europe since 1932 ● Celtic have dropped only two points all season ● Rodgers’ team could be most one-sided title winners since Hungary’s Ferencvaros 85 years ago ● Attendances have collapsed across the league James Gheerbrant March 3 2017, 12:01am, The Times On Sunday, September 18, Inverness Caledonian Thistle drew 2-2 with Celtic at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. If you were there, hang on to your ticket stub. It might be a museum artefact one day. That draw remains the sole blot on Celtic’s otherwise immaculate copybook this season. Brendan Rodgers’s side have won 26 of their 27 league games, including their past 22. Their lead over second-placed Aberdeen is 27 points — more than the top-of-the- table gaps in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium combined. They have not lost a league game since May 11 last year, when the UK was yet to decide on Brexit, Bernie Sanders was in the US presidential race, and Muhammad Ali was alive. They are playing the Scottish Premiership like a video game with the wrong difficulty setting on. It is no exaggeration to say that it is almost unprecedented for a leading domestic league to become such a cakewalk. As Simon Gleave, head of analysis at Gracenote Sports, points out, Celtic are only four points short of the record winning margin achieved at the end of any national top-flight season, the 31-point gap attained by Paris Saint-Germain in 2015-16 and Egyptian side Al Ahly in 2004-05 — with 11 games left to play. Only four teams have ever bettered their league rivals by as much as a point per game. To find a team that exceed Celtic’s points-per-game ratio of 2.93, you have to go back to the 1931-32 Hungarian league season, when Ferencvaros won all 22 of their games. Standings — Scottish Premiership Pos. P W D L GD Pts 1 Celtic Celtic 27 26 1 0 57 79 2 Aberdeen Aberdeen 27 16 4 7 26 52 3 Rangers Rangers 27 13 7 7 5 46 4 Heart of Midlothian Heart of Midlothian 27 10 8 9 11 38 I have come to Scotland to find out what happens to the soul of a country’s national game when its main competition becomes a non-competition. “It’s as uncompetitive a season as I’ve ever seen,” the Scottish football broadcaster Archie Macpherson, who has covered Scottish football since 1962, tells me. “I worked through the two periods of nine [titles] in a row, for both Rangers and Celtic, but the gap was never as wide as this. It is preposterous. The lack of competition is bringing monotony into the game, and football abhors monotony as nature abhors a vacuum.” His concerns are echoed by Gordon Smith, the former Scottish Football Association chief executive and Rangers striker, whose old club are spending their first season in the top flight since 2011-12 after being liquidated at the end of that season and working their way back up from the bottom of the football pyramid. “Celtic are a very good team, they’ve got good players, they play good football, but that’s the only thing that takes away from this worry that it’s rubbish,” he says. “We have a two-horse race in Scotland most of the time — and at the moment, there’s only one horse. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it: because it is a procession, there is a loss of interest.” That loss of interest is evident as I journey to Hamilton Academical’s New Douglas Park for a crucial match against Celtic’s supposed challengers-in-chief, Aberdeen. Hamilton’s hard-fought 1-0 win propels them three places off the bottom of the table to tenth, but there are only 2,006 fans in the 5,500-seater stadium to see it. The East Stand is populated by two spectators. Hamilton’s average home attendance has sunk from 3,024 last season to just 2,584 this season, and although some clubs have seen a modest increase, the overall trend of disappointing gates is the same. At Aberdeen’s 21,000-seater Pittodrie Stadium, the average crowd has shrunk from 13,094 to 12,154. Motherwell’s Fir Park, which seats 13,677, has seen the average attendance drop from 4,912 to 4,558. Celtic’s attendances, swelled by the return of old foes Rangers, remain resolutely buoyant, but even their fans are beginning to switch off. Richard Wilson, a Scottish football viewing figures expert, points to a run of four Celtic league games in October and November that drew an audience of fewer than 100,000 combined as the “smoking gun” indicating the depressing effect of Celtic’s supremacy. “Although SPFL viewing figures are strong overall, that’s far lower than you’d expect,” he explains. “Generally, you’d be looking at 150,000 to 190,000 viewers for those sorts of games. The only explanation for that is their dominance.” Jimmy, the Celtic-supporting cabbie who takes me to Glasgow’s Queen Street station and can reel off the name of Celtic players he’s “run around”, laments the decline of the traditional rivalry with Rangers. “It’s not as enjoyable as it was when we had a real close rivalry,” he says. “When they had a real good team and we went down there and gave them a shoeing, it used to be great. Now we’re going there expecting to win, knowing that we’re going to win, because Rangers are hopeless, they’re pish.” Of course, the diminution of competition reflects Scottish football’s dwindling quality base. When the Lisbon Lions of Tommy Gemmell, who died yesterday aged 73 after a long illness, won the European Cup in 1967, Rangers also reached the Cup Winners’ Cup final and Dundee United beat Barcelona 4-1 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Now those clubs are ranked 267th and 269th respectively in Uefa’s rankings. The Scottish national team, once a genuine world power, have not reached a leading tournament since 1998. The problem with the hideously lop-sided Scottish Premiership is that it does not just demonstrate those failings; it perpetuates them. “It’s hugely damaging for Scottish football,” Macpherson says. “You want to encourage teams to compete, but scrabbling for second place, when such a wide gulf exists, can only be injurious to clubs trying to promote talent.” We have a two-horse race in Scotland most of the time — and at the moment, there’s only one horse Gordon Smith, Former SFA chief executive Smith agrees. “When Aberdeen were competing for the league title, or Dundee United, they were providing quite a few players to the national team. Because these teams aren’t competing as well, we’re not producing as many players for Scotland either, and Scotland as a team will suffer greatly.” Given all this, you might think that the case for reform would be irresistible. But it isn’t that simple. There is little appetite for change — certainly not at Celtic, nor, more surprisingly, further down the table. Willie Miller captained Aberdeen, the last club to break the Old Firm hegemony, to three league titles in the 1980s, and later served as the club’s manager and director, but even he is not inclined to bang the drum for a return to the good old days. “Celtic being so far ahead has not really affected clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts,” he says. “When you look at Aberdeen, you’d maybe hanker back to the Eighties, but you don’t have that now — it’s not in the fans’ psyche that you can challenge Celtic. I think Aberdeen and Hearts are comfortable playing second fiddle.” Nor is the SPFL itself concerned. “Winning 22 consecutive leagues games is a very rare achievement in any league but is first and foremost worthy of congratulation,” the chief executive Neil Doncaster says. “As other clubs strive to meet the high standards set by Celtic we would hope that in the long run that would benefit the standards of the league and the wider game.” Rodgers’s side play good football but are helped by a distinct lack of competition Smith believes that the SFA is powerless to arrest the erosion of domestic competition, and with every title win offering Celtic access to the highly lucrative Champions League, the circularity of the phenomenon is easy to see. For now, Celtic just keep on winning. My journey ends at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, where, in a repeat of the fixture that dealt their one setback, Celtic cruise to a 4-0 win. The hosts implode after 12 seconds of the second half when goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams slices a clearance straight to Moussa Dembélé. “We were beaten before we stepped on the pitch,” Richie Foran, the Inverness manager, admits. “I’m not really worried [about a lack of competition],” Rodgers says. “Some people will say you need more competition to do better in Europe, but I don’t necessarily agree. We work hard to a top level anyway. All you can do is always beat the opponent in front of you.” No mention of Rangers, other than pejoratively, which is the default position, of course, nor of Rangers' attendances. The campaign has started........

The point to bear in mind is that the referees lost the strike. Once a strike is lost, it can take years to recover. Referees are now shit scared to give marginal calls against fhilth fc ( for the avoidance of doubt, I mean those referees who would give such a call, other things being equal).

Changed days. Strange days, with what seems like every team in Scotland (bar one!) in rasellik's back pocket. I've tried to fathom the unnatural hold that fhilthfootballclub has over its 'competitors', and can conclude only that, failing blackmail, or an unholy, and decisive, influence of the irish kafflick ummah in every boardroom, it was able to persuade them that once Rangers was dead, it would , within a few uncompetitive seasons, (be able to) move to the richer pastures of the English Leagues, leaving them happily with their own League to play with.

For your interest A preview of the Chinese season, about to start this weekend. From today's Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/03/chinese-super-league-football-transfer-window-guangzhou-evergrande Want to understand Chinese football? Don't view it through a transfer window Chinese Super League clubs spent £331m in their winter transfer window but the real action begins this weekend with a cracking match in Guangzhou By Cameron Wilson for Wild East Football, part of the Guardian Sport Network Friday 3 March 2017 11.41 GMT Last modified on Friday 3 March 2017 11.48 GMT Most windows allow light to shine through them, illuminating something that would otherwise be in darkness, but the Chinese transfer window seems to work in the opposite manner, almost like a two-way mirror. There lies within this huge and mysterious land an amazing footballing world in keeping with the country’s diverse personality, but anyone standing on the outside reading coverage about the game here would be forgiven for thinking the story of Chinese football begins and ends with a massive, twice-yearly shopping spree. International media tend to focus on the expensive foreign signings as doing so is easy and seems to sell most papers. Hardly any native players are known outside of the country and the generation of players who did make their mark overseas, such as Fan Zhiyi, Zheng Zhi and Sun Jihai, have all retired. But there are plenty of reasons not to switch off until the next window opens. The Chinese Super League season kicks off this weekend and, if you look beyond the dazzling stars and huge transfer fees, you will see a fascinating competition with history and traditions that match many other leagues. On the fixture card this weekend is a traditional blockbuster match – six-time champions Guangzhou Evergrande welcome old foes Beijing Guoan to Tianhe Stadium for a contest that has been key in deciding the destination of the title in recent years. The clubs are separated by nearly 1,300 miles as well as two very different languages (Cantonese and Mandarin), climates, cuisines and mindsets. Each team represents their side of the great north/south cultural divide in China. Beijingers are known to be fierce; they enjoy a shot – or six – of the local baijiu firewater before games; and they aren’t afraid of confrontation. Their ability to offend with bursts of sharp-tongued jing ma (Beijing cursing) is legendary and they are generally seen as a bunch not to be trifled with. Guangzhou, which sits on the south coast of China, is home to fans who are mocked for eating mild food and being unable to handle their drink – or any cold weather. Does that sound familiar? Through Chinese football we can see some interesting cultural parallels with places closer to home. Guangzhou Evergrande fans embrace their distinct identity with a zeal equal to anything seen in the north, proudly hanging a banner in their stadium that reads, in English, “We are Canton”. Other fans accuse them of being glory-hunters – and it is true that their attendances have doubled since the Evergrande Group real estate company invested in the club and helped them win six titles in a row – but they were one of the best supported teams in the country before their sugar daddy owner, Xu Jiayin, arrived in 2009. Clashes between these two teams are generally exciting affairs featuring some of the best football the league has to offer. Beijing Guoan struggled to finish anywhere near Evergrande last year but their fans will be hoping for a repeat of their visit to Tianhe on the penultimate game of the 2014 season, when a spectacular Shao Jiayi free-kick two minutes from time secured a famous victory and took the title race down to the last day. Evergrande prevailed, but it was the closest they had come to not winning the league since 2009 Unfortunately, stories such as this one can be hard to hear above the noise about transfers. There is a lack of clear information coming out of China and tabloid reporters know they can link anyone with a move here with impunity; there’s no risk of being contradicted by anyone in China. This is a rather opaque place in general and the football culture is no different. Chinese media often cite unnamed sources, especially for anything remotely controversial, so accountability is low. The Chinese phrase for “a source familiar with the matter” is one of the most common you will read in the football columns; nobody wants to be the one blamed for upsetting the delicate internal politics of many of the clubs. Even when information is officially confirmed, all may not be as it seems – it is not unheard of for new domestic signings to be unveiled in the obligatory scarf-holding pose, only for the move to be canceled just before the window closes if it means the club can bring someone better in. This is the state of Chinese football media. Things are unclear at the best of times, even before language differences are factored in. Much of what is reported about foreign players moving to China is quoted from western news sources, who in turn are often quoting “a source in China”. So both sets of media end up quoting each other in a feedback loop. Things have become even more messy now that agents are using offers from “an unnamed Chinese club” as convenient bargaining chips in their negotiations with European clubs. With information so hard to find – and contradict – a lot of reporters focus on the hubbub around the transfer window. Yet, if they watched Guangzhou Evergrande winning the Asian Champions League for the first time, tuned in for a pulsating Shanghai derby, or even saw the fans of Korean ethnic side Yanbian celebrating their surprise promotion to the Super League in 2015, they would discover some intriguing footballing tales. A lot of the players who moved here in the transfer window were heavily criticised, but a more magnanimous attitude to Chinese football would be better for all concerned. The top European leagues are far ahead of the Chinese Super League and no amount of money is going to change that in a hurry, so they need not be so defensive. Besides, China makes no secret of the fact that it looks up to European football and respects it. The game here is far from perfect and has some way to go before it can achieve its ambitions, but it should not be berated for having the audacity to bring in the best players it can. If you want to make a judgment on Chinese football, look beyond the transfer window, focus on the action and discover the stories this huge country has to offer. • This article appeared first on Wild East Football • Follow Wild East Football and Cameron Wilson on Twitter

You would have to look at the central belt, and at Fife, for starters. The more one thinks about, the more one approaches a franchise model, which would be unacceptable, for a variety of reasons, none of which relate to the quality, success, or entertainment value of the football, or to the status of the Clubs.

He had one game, and he talked it many times.

A bullfighter? Well, that's positive for me. The team marching out to the Toreador song from Carmen will be uplifting. The half time entertainment will be exciting, and will open new sponsorship opportunities with the bull. (Dare I ask if that will be uma vermelho touro? There is no such thing as coincidence, after all.)

I'll wager that Jock Wallace would have fought a bull. Before breakfast.

An official done deal?

Sometimes we have to speculate to accumulate, or to get a lady on-side, so to speak.

Dale Pryde? Is that really his name? Sounds like a fucking creamery.

Thank you for those understanding words.

The Compliance Officer might double his ban, so, yeah, Murty is spot on.

I just Lent my ex wife £100. Does that make me a Papist, or even a Piscie?

Caixinha now down as low as 8/13 @Wm Hill Rowett has come right in, now as low as 2/1, with Betfair and Wm Hill Eck: as low as 6/4 (Betfair exchange), and as high as 10/1 @Wm Hill Keep your wallets in your pockets may be the best advice.