glasgow sheep

wtf the fuck (caution from the Daily Retard)

IT is understood Aberdeen joined Celtic in opposing the move which would see the current 11-1 majority needed for major decisions change to a new 9-3 voting system.

 

A motion was put forward at yesterday’s SPL board meeting to ditch the current 11-1 majority needed for major decisions with some clubs keen to see a new 9-3 voting system introduced on all issues.

 

But hopes that the changes could be in place by next month hit the buffers at yesterday’s meeting inside Hampden and Record Sport understands that Aberdeen opposed the move.

 

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “On voting reform, it was agreed that the members’ resolution would be deferred and considered again on November 19.

 

“There’s a perception the voting regime is 11-1 but very few matters are 11-1. The vast majority are 8-4, some are 10-2 and a few are 11-1.

 

“The motion put forward would make everything 9-3 but there will be further debate. It requires an 11-1 vote to get that through.”

 

And on the issue of possible league reconstruction, Doncaster added: “There remains a real appetite for reconstruction of the leagues and talks are ongoing.”

 

And he also reiterated the SPL is coping well after the demise of Rangers.

 

He said: “Crowds have held up well and commercial income is holding up well.”

Looks like there's been another ditching, up near Shetland:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-20033833

 

This is happening a bit too frequently is it not

hearts beat motherwell, league is incredibly close. Shame the champions and the relegated team are already decided before we have even finished the first round of games

I know it's been around ages but curious to know how many folk have seen You've Been Trumped.

 

Makes me shake with rage

Recorded it and will probably watch it this week.

I see Trump is threatening to sue but I wonder if anything will come of that?

Having just read Alex Thomson's most recent blog I can't help but draw parallels between a rich powerful tycoon trying to suppress free speech and supporters of a (once rich) powerful institution trying to suppress free speech and debate.

That fact that both have some success in this is an embarrassment for us all.

Would all fans travelling to Tannadice for this afternoons match please note that the A90 is closed in both directions at Laurencekirk due to a major road traffic incident. The club understands that this is not likely to open again before the game. Fans are advised to travel via the diversion route and to allow extra time for your journey.

Yeah that was my first thought manc, we've gotta beat this fucking hoodoo sometime though

I'm pretty sure we have, several times

I know this is from after the Wales game but read it on my phone when in Belgium and thought it was, as ever, a good article from fellow dandy Michael Grant

It isn't going to make for pretty reading. I will be among the journalists who board a flight to Belgium with the Scotland squad tomorrow morning and it's going to be another of those strained, avoiding-eye-contact trips, with more turbulence inside the plane than out.

 

Levein will do interviews ahead of Tuesday's game in Brussels and he'll do his damndest to sound upbeat. Maybe he'll try to shift the emphasis on to bad refereeing, or make the legitimate point that going at least 18 years without reaching a major final can't be pinned on him. Whatever he says is going to sound empty. He has lost the country and the country wants him out.

 

When Scotland fail to win on Tuesday – there is nothing to suggest they will cope with a clearly superior Belgian side especially with Darren Fletcher a doubt and Scott Brown having flown home yesterday – they will have had only one victory in seven matches. Levein's record when it matters is woeful: just 13 points harvested from a possible 33. He has had one European Championship campaign which yielded next to nothing and now Scotland are traipsing through another set of dismal letdowns.

 

What the sculptor can chisel into the headstone is this: Levein's reign has been barren and joyless. Every Scotland manager, even the ones remembered as duds, had their moments. There were plenty of highs for a while under Ally MacLeod. There was a draw with Germany, qualification for a play-off and a home win over Holland under the shambolic guidance of Berti Vogts. Even George Burley can claim to be the man who brought Steven Fletcher, James Morrison and Kris Commons into international football, and who gave the Dutch a real fright with a fine performance at Hampden three years ago.

 

But Levein? What does he have? In two campaigns there hasn't been a single qualifying match in which a consistently impressive and powerful performance delivered a stylish, memorable victory. There hasn't been a win at all against anyone other than drab Lithuania and the cannon fodder of Liechtenstein. Spain, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Macedonia, Wales: in seven games this supposedly ever-improving Scotland, with their relentless march of progress – according to the only man who can detect it – haven't been able to get the better of any of them. Seven points out of nine have been dropped in the World Cup before Scotland have even faced the two best teams in the section.

 

Levein's successes have been private, behind-the-scenes matters. There has been no "Boozegate" on his watch. The vast majority of players clearly like him and follow his orders. They've not withdrawn en masse from friendly squads or let him down on disciplinary issues. In return, he's indulged them with endless praise – often overdoing it – and frequent rounds of golf. But he has made mistakes, big ones, and they define his reign. Playing without a striker in Prague felt like a betrayal of Scotland's idea of itself as a proud football country. And, more to the point, we lost.

 

Steven Fletcher's return in Cardiff visibly brought a new dimension to the side, but too late. If Levein could swallow his pride and reach for Fletcher this month, why not before the ruinous double-header last month, or at any other point in the past year? Prague and Fletcher can be chiselled on to that headstone, too.

 

There's nothing wrong with a manager being stubborn or single-minded – Levein is both – but alarm bells start to ring when they are inconsistent. When he took the job he said only those playing regular first-team football would be picked for Scotland. Now, Alan Hutton gets a game. Before last month's double-header he said he had a team full of goalscoring midfielders and forwards, but after the two matches he said he had been short of quality in the middle. Which was it?

 

He didn't pick Charlie Adam, then he was his "quarterback", and now he doesn't pick him again. Jordan Rhodes went from being Scotland's future to "overhyped" in the blink of an eye. The door was closed on Fletcher - and then it wasn't. As is often the case with failing managers, the worse the results are, the more inconsistent he has sounded.

 

Levein has loved the status and importance of managing Scotland. He has enjoyed working with a class of player far higher than those he ever coached before. In truth, he's often seemed excessively grateful for the mere presence of guys such as Darren Fletcher, Gary Caldwell, James Morrison and Kenny Miller, whom he seems to regard – even off the record – as being above even constructive criticism.

 

But it's not healthy when a manager is so inextricably bound to his players that he won't admit to bad performances when they are obvious to the rest of us. Cardiff on Friday was by no means the worst – although Adam's attempt to cover Gareth Bale at the winner couldn't have looked any lazier if he'd shuffled over to him with a pint and a cigarette in his hand – but Levein's 23 games have included too many flawed displays. And after them he sounds like a man in denial.

 

He will be sacked because results dictate it and supporters demand it. It doesn't matter that he might have made a significant contribution to the SFA's long-term strategies on player development: 7500 fans didn't follow his team to Cardiff for that. A manager is paid to win games.

 

He's such an unpopular figure with many fans that it's hard to see where his next club job would be, but that's for another day. Right now is about the end of a Scotland reign that has lasted almost three years, long enough for people to recognise that this is as good as it's going to get.

 

Put it this way: if the SFA asked him to make a case for staying in the job, what on earth would he say?

Shed sold out

bit disappointed if that has only just happened. Just back from Belgium and expected us to be on the way to a full sell out.

Because it winds them up. A lot.

surely not

Aberdeen bypass Supreme Court ruling due on 17 October

 

 

Campaigners opposed to the Aberdeen bypass are set to learn the fate of their appeal to the UK's Supreme Court next week, it has been announced.

 

A two-day hearing was earlier held at the Supreme court in London.

 

The judgement will be given next Wednesday at 09:45.

 

Campaign group Road Sense's spokesman William Walton previously said judges could decide to seek an assessment from the European Court of Justice.

 

Business leaders and several politicians have been critical of the number of legal delays to the road, saying it is vital for the north east of Scotland's economy.

 

The 28-mile road was given the go-ahead by Scottish ministers in 2009.

 

Defeat in this latest appeal will almost certainly allow the £400m Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) to go ahead.

Yeah, looking at my wee red book app Henderson had 30 caps to Johnstone's 23.

10th October 1908 : Aberdeen went top of the league for the 1st time ever with a 3-2 home win over Partick Thistle.

Perhaps that should read "Perverse".

Was one of the major flash points on the road to the Yugoslav-Croat war and the resultant mass murder and genocide not a game between Red Star and Dinamo that resulted in running battles both on and off the pitch?

But, hey, I suppose religious and racial intolerance sells........

A host of Eastern Europe’s leading clubs have joined forces to unveil plans for a new ‘Balkan League’ which aims to raise the standard of football in the region and create an important new revenue stream.

According to Reuters, the competition would run from September to May with 32 teams competing. There will be eight groups of four teams at the start, followed by knockout rounds. Clubs who fail to make it past the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League will be allowed to join the new tournament after the New Year. Officials maintain the new competition is designed to run alongside UEFA’s events and the co-operation of European football’s governing body is being sought.

“We have repeatedly discussed the situation and problems in the region and it’s widely recognised that Eastern European football is increasingly lagging behind football in Central and Western Europe,” said Dimitar Borisov, president of CSKA Sofia. “Therefore, our clubs’ access to the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League is very difficult. Only a few teams from the region participate in the group stages of these tournaments and there are limited opportunities for participation in competitive international games for most of the clubs in the region.”

Borisov stated that further meetings will be held with a view to reaching a final agreement within three months. He added that some potential sponsors had already been in contact and were ready to invest in the competition once there was an agreement with UEFA. Vladan Lukic, president of Red Star Belgrade, said: “We don’t want to oppose other European tournaments. On the contrary, the Champions League and the Europa League has always been our priority. We want the new league to be economically stable and with strong sponsors. We would like to find an alternative and help our players and fans being involved in big games throughout the whole year.”

Given the second part seems pure fiction the first part is actually very sad, not knowing who one of the best players Scotland ever produced was.

tbh I don't really know much about Willie Henderson.

How he hasnae heard of Jimmy Johnstone given all the Lisbon Lions crap is perhaps a little bit more surprising.

“You can’t say it’s down to ability. I’ve played in the best league in the world for five years, .

9 League appearances and 7 other appearances in 5 years at Blackburn Rovers, 7 on loan at League Clubs.

I’ve performed for my country at a high level. You can’t do that if you are not good enough

3 Caps in Friendlies against Mexico, Liechtenstein and Trinidad and Tobago.

Was it not BobbyBiscuit who was complaining about his alleged 'warm up' during a recent game? I think against Dunfermline in the cup? What did he do or what didn't he do?! Shocking behaviour for a 'pro' anyway.

Fucked about for a few mins before sitting on the bench and then, I believe, warming up with the pars players.

GOALS

http://sport.stv.tv/football/194234-how-aberdeens-midfield-tweak-has-solved-their-goal-scoring-crisis/

Aberdeen took their time this season to get goals in the league, drawing a blank in four of their first five matches.

Pair that with the fact they found the net just 36 times last season, the lowest in the division, and something had to give for Craig Brown's side to have any hope of a successful campaign.

The summer signings of Niall McGinn and Jonny Hayes suggested width would be the secret to Brown's 4-5-1 system but, as it has developed, greater importance has been placed on central players, including McGinn, to push high and support the lone striker, typically Scott Vernon.

Now 11 goals to the good, Here are how Aberdeen's strikes in the SPL have occurred this season.

 

Their weekend win over Kilmarnock displayed three subtly different alternatives for finding the net, all harnessing the 4-5-1 system.

For the first, a long ball to Vernon from Andrew Considine was subject to poor defending from Michael Nelson, but it displayed how Gavin Rae drives forward from midfield to win the second ball from any knock down the striker can make. Rae then drove on with the ball and scored his third goal in three games.

The second at Rugby Park showed the effectiveness of McGinn drifting in as a second striker. With the game stretched on the counter by Ryan Fraser on the left, he displayed the maturity needed to hold up the ball long enough for his team-mate to make his run from deep, then play the perfect ball for him to head in.

The final goal, Vernon's first in the league this season, shows he isn't all about being a target man. Taking in the ball himself, he played a neat one-two before bulldozing through, and netting with a composed finish.

With particular regards to Rae and McGinn, the key to their success in front of goal have been there late runs from midfield, overloading central defenders at the last possible moment. Case in point Rae's three goals this season.

 

 

And the same for McGinn, although he is given slightly more freedom to push up and even go beyond Vernon.

 

 

Add in goals from Isaac Osbourne and Hayes, and it's clear to see the importance Craig Brown places on his midfielders getting into goal scoring positions, as opposed to seeking to get the ball wide in a high position and get it into the box for Vernon. Josh Magennis too has found the net, another example of offensive overloading in and around the box.

 

I can find sources for the first bit but nothing about Weir, still a good quote though. Fucking OF obsessed media.

nicked off mad, apparently this week wee ryan has said:

"Am I flattered with these continual comparisons to Jimmy Johnstone and Willie Henderson?

 

No, because I've never heard of either of them.

 

The player that has inspired me most is Peter Weir, and if I can even be half as good as him I'll be delighted".

Storyteller Brown knows what he's talking about . . . 

Hugh Macdonald Chief Sports Writer   

 

THERE is so much mention made of Craig Brown's age that his experience sometimes remains curiously unreported.

The Aberdeen manager, at 72, has shown he is as much focused on the future as he galvanises his club in uncertain times. But his past is decorated with the battle honours of a time when qualification for major finals was seen as expected, even routine.

Brown has been on the Scotland staff at three World Cup finals and two European Championships, leading the team in England in 1996 and in France in 1998. He is the last Scottish manager to have experienced the joy of taking his nation to the big show. It is an extraordinary record, particularly when viewed through the eyes of a generation scarred by disappointment.

 

Yet there were days in the sun. "We did two laps of honour," Brown says with a smile of the scenes in October 1997 when Scotland beat Latvia 2-0 at Celtic Park to book a place in the World Cup finals. "It was a great time," he adds, needlessly but irrepressibly, before embarking on an anecdote. Brown loves a story the way Oliver Reed liked a drink. They tumble forth in a boyish enthusiasm from the septuagenarian.

 

"At the first training session of any finals I would hand the boys a letter from the SFA stipulating the bonuses. You would find them crumpled up unopened in the bins. You would see the likes of [Colin] Hendry, [Gary] McAllister, [Ally] McCoist chucking them away. They would tell me they were not interested in the bonuses. They just wanted to play for their country. Imagine the younger boys seeing that . . . you weren't going to have any problems about money or motivation."

 

There is barely a pause before he continues.

"And I am always asked about my favourite player as Scotland manager. Well, it was Tom Boyd. He won 72 caps. He always turned up no matter what. I would see him with a swollen ankle and ask him: 'Are you all right?' He'd just say: 'I'm fine'. We were struggling at centre-half against Belarus and I asked him to play there and he said: "Aye, all right'."

 

These details are precisely correct, of course. The Celtic player's appearance at centre-half was away to Belarus in June 1997. Brown's stories have a flourish, but they always have a point.

 

So has he any simple, straightforward explanation over why the World Cup in France was the last of the great days for the national team? "We have been very unlucky. Injuries have killed us," he says. "Look, we cannot afford to lose big players for big matches. I remember meeting Big Alex [McLeish] in Georgia on the back of an excellent victory over Ukraine and he told me he had to make five changes. We don't have the depth of squad to survive that. I always thought George Burley and Walter [smith] were unfortunate with injuries and Berti Vogts frankly made mistakes over a consistency in selection. He picked too many players and sometimes not the right ones. It takes a wee while to come back from that."

 

He is also aware that player development has not been the highlight of early 21st century Scotland. "We have brought through good coaches – just look at Scots at big clubs in England and the young managers up here today – but player development has been a problem. There are schemes put in place and some I don't agree with, including the under-20 league. That should be a reserve league."

 

He is exasperated by the regulations that stipulate that there should be three under-21 players in the first-team squad, the allowance of three over-age players in the under-20 squad, two of which are allowed to be over 23, and the different category for goalkeepers . . . "I have to walk about with lists of eligible players. You have to be a lawyer with a degree in mathematics to pick a team."

He is an advocate for a straightforward reserve league and he believes that the gap from under-17 to under-20 is too great. "The good ones can make that jump but where do the others go? The structure is interesting."

 

By this, of course, he means anything but interesting. Yet he retains a faith in the ability of the game to produce young players. "We have at last addressed the influx of ineffective foreign players and Aberdeen and Motherwell, two clubs I have been privileged to be associated with, have brought through good players. I am not taking any credit for it at Aberdeen. I inherited good, young players."

 

This week only two Aberdeen players – Niall McGinn (Northern Ireland) and Jason Brown (Wales) – are away on international duty. But Ryan Jack, Clark Robertson, Ryan Fraser and Cammy Smith are in under-age Scotland squads.

Fraser, at 18, already shows significant signs that he could be a player of substance. "I liken him to Pat Nevin," says Brown, "similar ability and both level-headed boys. He is so unaffected, so determined to play honestly. He never takes a dive."

 

Brown's enthusiasm extends to the future of the national team. He is unconvinced about the wisdom of starting with two home matches. "I always liked to begin the qualifying campaign with a couple of tricky away ties and then try to gain momentum with home games and I always liked the last home match to be a big game," he says.

 

Scotland now face difficult matches in Cardiff and then Brussels. "You have to look at the first match and say we have better players than Wales and that we should prove that on the park. The Welsh team are not the flavour the month, given the recent result against Serbia," he says referring to the 6-1 defeat in Novi Sad. "This could be the turning point for us. I do not think all is lost."

 

He is encouraged by the return of the two Fletchers, Steven and Darren. "We cannot afford to have our best players not playing," he says in response to questions about the Sunderland forward's exclusion from previous squads. "We want him playing, however that happens."

He adds ruefully: "I cannot talk because I never brought Richard Gough back." Brown and the Rangers captain were never reconciled and the manager declined to selected the defender for the 1996 European Championships despite huge media pressure.

 

He has an obligatory anecdote about Darren Fletcher. "Fergie brought his team up to Pittodrie for Neil Simpson's testimonial and Darren was on the bench. He was warming up at half-time and every time he ran to the stands there was a huge roar followed by a burst of applause. When he came on as a substitute, the place was in uproar. That is the impact that lad has on Scottish supporters," he says, pointing out that great players know their obligations to the fan. "He was concerned people might have thought he was 'milking it" but, of course, he was not. He is a great player, a great guy. We will be better for having him over the next two matches."

 

He has only limited advice for Levein as the Scotland manager seeks to follow where Brown marched proudly. "I would be never to be as presumptuous to pick his team or advise him on tactics. But he has to be his own man, not be influenced by outside forces."

He will watch the match on television in a state of optimism but with a professional focus. "You are never too old to learn," he says. Never too experienced either.

I'm all about the Delerium Cafe.

Oooft just googled that, I'm in about that.

Some cracking challenges by the stirling boys.

Think they would have seen red in the spl but 3rd division is a different story 

My favourite, I mean shocking challenge, should be a red etc

Just back from Brussels, you lot will have a ball over there.

 

Gonna gie us some recommendations for bars etc. Also need to get some authentic Belguim Moules Frites.

.

Och you cannae say  that 

Think if the U21s had been playing meaningful games he may well have got moved up but as U21 games this month are friendlies I can see why SFA have left him with the U19s for the qualifiers. I am happy enough with him playing as it will give him experience of playing against different styles of players over the next week which can only be of a benefit for the player and the Dons in the long run. Also international apperances help the compo figure when he leaves on a free at the end of his deal.

Fair enough I suppose, didn't really know what fixture the age-group squads had. Still at this stage the greater benefit will be from the SPL.  Do u19 appearances count with regards to compo, how is that worked out?

I see he is off with the Scotland u19s to play 3 games in 8 days.  It's obviously great seeing out players represent their countries but I'm not sure there is much benefit in Ryan playing in the u19s.  Surely that squad is about giving players experience at a level above reserve football but Ryan will benefit much more surely from getting a rest and playing regularly in the SPL.  I would perhaps accept him turning out for the u21s but to have an spl regular off playing for the u19s seems counter productive.  Hopefully he is used sparingly as would be a shame if Brown ended up having to rest him after the international break