BILLY BREMNER MEMORIAL JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN
Date: 17th May 2024
(Photo:@Homesoffootball)
Let’s start with: Q1.
Why does Scottish Football not have Strict Liability in Scotland?
(Just like all our clubs happily accept in Europe).
Then: Q2.
Why does our government not impose Strict Liability on our game?
Moving on: Q3.
Why do our clubs think they have a constant, self-declared ‘Get out of Jail Card’ when it comes to the very real costs created by their fans usually after trophy successes with two celebratory events on the immediate horizon tomorrow and next Saturday.
And finally: Q4.
Why do fans think it’s OK to leave expensive carnage for others to clear up and the city to pay for?
As I write this on a sunny Friday afternoon I have heard that fan plans are well afoot for a couple of ‘Big Celebrations’ in Glasgow’s Trongate and George Square by Greens tomorrow and Greens or Blues next week.
This is not new and we all know the answers to the questions.
We’ve seen it a few times over the last few years and the carnage has been a direct result of both blue and green scarfage excesses.
Why in any democracy should the council tax payers of Scotland’s biggest city have to pick up the costs of both the policing and the inevitable clean up?
City of Glasgow Council are rightly worried and don’t have money to cover this kind of nonsense.
And nonsense it is.
Andy’s Sting in the Tale
1. Did Pete Townshend Call it Right?
2. Is Kenny Miller on the SFA VAR Panel?
3. Short Termism Deeply Damaging Our Game
4. Lise Klaveness Has An Opinion, Ian Doesn’t, but Infantino is Not Good For Football
1. Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss?
Genuine congratulations to Willie Collum becoming our new shiny Head of Refereeing.
In true ‘Thick of it’ style we’ll continue to have all kinds of rumours and views from the fans of our resident ‘oil and water duopoly’ but after 20 years as a Category 1 and experience at all levels he is more than qualified.
The way the Chief Exec of our most successful blue club was ordered by his board to have a go at him earlier in the season was wrong in every way and says a lot about our particular socio-religious divide that our football commercialises.
Enough about that already.
The Press Release ‘bull’ to announce the arrival of our new King said the SFA had received applications from experienced candidates across the UK, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.
Wot no interest from South America, Middle East or North West Greenland Ian?
And I smile when I constantly read that Willie’s predecessor is leaving to ‘pursue new opportunities’.
The truth is he was being pulled in so many ways by the dysfunctional under-resourced SFA organisation that self-preservation kicked in.
He parachuted out.
We also now know that Crawford was the first SFA employee told not to deal in any way with us, the SFSA, a volunteer organisation with nearly 85,000 supporter members by a mandate from Ian Maxwell.
At the time Crawford should have told Ian and his other Grand Fromages just where to go and then used it as a reason for a full reorg.
Maybe he did and that was the proverbial straw?
And maybe new King Willie C will actually allow us to help going forward because referees should be more valued and treated better at all levels?
Willie will also be well aware that the underlying problem is our system needs a top down and bottom up review and more refs from outside the current very narrow recruitment patch.
I don’t know if Willie reads ‘Sting’ like many refs do.
Some weeks ago I recommended that all fans and refs should spend an hour on Alan Morrison’s ‘long-term decisions review’ that renders debate about refereeing in Scotland obsolete.
I liked Willie’s attributed quote on the press release, “I want to alleviate the unsustainable burden on our match officials and improve relations and mutual respect between match officials, club officials, players coaches and fans”.
I hope he is allowed to bring in the changes that our game has needed for a long, long time and that Pete Townshend’s truism about bosses is not self-fulfilling this time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM1c1KGpw-0
It’s well worth some of Willie’s time and also cements why we need VAR, warts, and all.
We just need better VAR and that will come.
2. VAR Stuff Rumbles On
Thanks for the very positive reaction to last week’s Sting piece about the undisclosed and unsung benefits of VAR.
(100 decisions reversed, and counting, and a full spotlight on all issues).
And my wee exclusive on the SFA ‘Invented’ VAR Review Panel that is made up from ‘experts’ who obviously need some help because the evidence says they don’t know the rules really hit the spot.
Why on earth were these ‘Expert panels” set up with no over-riding referee input and control?
Here’s a wee snippet from my email box last Saturday.
It’s from Brian, a Hibs fan from Peebles,
“Andy, do you know if Kenny Miller the oft quoted well known ex-Ranger* is on any of the VAR panels?
Today on the BBC he said, after the stupid and dangerous tackle by Lundstram on Johnston that got the red card upgrade it merited, “By the letter of the law it’s a red card, but it’s not a red card for me.
Andy, this guy is getting paid by our national broadcaster to spout biased ignorant nonsense like that”.
My rather cynical retired ref pals would say ex-Ranger Kenny sounds perfect for the VAR panel, as is, bias and all.
If he isn’t already on it maybe the SFA could agree a suitable fee.
* Mr Miller the well-known ex-Rangers striker may have played for other less important teams like Hibs but according to the BBC he is simply an ex-Ranger.
Wolves Don’t Like VAR
And there will be a discussion and vote in England early in June.
Fair enough, it probably won’t get the votes needed but it will help the long term process and the fine tuning VAR needs.
Everything in football should always be up for review and improvement.
VAR’s a new system and there have been teething problems but I personally value the openness on decisions it has brought into our game.
3. Built in Madness
Yes the play offs are exciting but so are the leagues from August to May.
And League placing is a genuine rating over a season.
To me, allowing 4th place clubs to leapfrog the second and third place teams who might have accumulated significantly more points isn’t fair.
It’s imported American crap and yes it is exciting but it’s not fair over a season.
Also now that I’m on a roll, our leagues of just 10 are too small and mean there is no middle ground and no safety for anyone.
Have a look at Brechin who just a few short years ago were flying in the Championship, and what will happen to Stranraer if Kilby prevail on Saturday. And Kilby should have been travelling south with a sizeable advantage.
The direct result of our tight wee leagues and pathetic commercial revenues coming through from the top is clubs spending every last brass razoo they have and bucketloads of razoos they don’t yet have on trying to go “up”, or stay “up” and this damages everything on a micro and much, much worse than that on a macro level.
Our system is robbing planning, infrastructure projects and youth football because none of them deliver points today or tomorrow, when they are most needed.
Madness.
4. We Dinnae
I am sure that the SFA have representation at both Uefa and Fifa but you’d never know it.
We are a ‘Toom Tabard’ nation when it comes to the real politics of football and fighting our corner and for the wee guys.
We didn’t openly fight Uefa’s movement that allows 5 teams from big countries in key Uefa competitions like the Champions League.
That hurts out top teams and was a huge mistake.
We’re silent on everybloodything.
And our Scottish fourth estate seems not to care.
They are too busy writing about how our top mercenaries cook their chickens or other page filling nonsense like that.
Anyway I read an article this morning in Murdoch’s Times about how Gianni Infantino has now created an operation that has allowed him to keep his strongest backers happy and protects his own position.
Favours for the Boys.
It seems the 2024 Fifa Congress in Bangkok is set to reverse a ban brought in after the vote-rigging that delivered World Cups to friends in Russia and Qatar.
And as a direct result Infantino will be able to gift Spain/Portugal, Morocco/South America the 2030 tournament and Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup.
Mr Infantino will simply multiply the number of his Fifa committees from 7-35.
Seats around the tables are a gravy train for all the Fifa delegates on all the nice committees coming with cash payments, travel perks and status.
An inside law professor who knows Fifa calls it “Institutionalised Vote-Buying”.
I agree.
So after promising to clean up the mess Sepp Blatter left, he’s now copying it all with bells on and Scotland are not even debating any of it.
Oh and by the way, Saudi owned oil giant Aramco is now the biggest Fifa sponsor and we know leaked WhatsApp messages suggest that Infantino, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and ex Hamilton Star Luis Rubiales were a tight wee ‘pals and favours’ clique ahead of the upcoming award.
And just to square the circle, some spokesperson at Fifa somehow denied this week that the 2030 and 2034 World Cups were ‘Rewards’ for Infantino’s close supporters.
Lise Klaveness the breath of fresh air Norwegian FA President spoke out publicly calling the Fifa developments ‘worrying’.
In the absence of anything from Hampden here are some of the insights from knowledgeable fans and watchers in Murdoch’s Tabloid comments section.
J Wolfenden:
Credit to Infantino on doing something everyone thought was impossible.
Making Sepp Blatter look straight and honest.
Mark Taylor:
Gangsters running a protection racket.
If a handful of the leading countries left and set up an alternative it would all come crashing down.
Nick Sheppard:
I’d like to see Uefa pull away and no European countries to take part in the 2034 World Cup. But do they have the guts?
Nigel Stubley:
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
Neale Harvey:
Nothing will happen till Uefa break away from Fifa. Oh wait, they’re both corrupt.
And all the time deafening, deafening silence from our SFA
And in the meantime Infantino today prevented a vote by the Fifa membership at the Bangkok meeting on voting on a motion from Palestine to ban Israel.
Instead he favours some long grass delay and a panel of independent ‘experts’.
Maybe Kenny Miller will be on that panel too.
That’s it from me for this week.
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Andy’s Albums of the Week
Who’s Next, Quadrophenia and Who Came First
The first time I heard the words, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”, was on ‘Won’t get fooled again’, on the Who’s Next album.
I thought they said so much.
The story behind the line goes it was about Abbie Hoffman who was an ambitious American social and politico in the 60s who founded something called the ‘Yippies’, (Youth International Party) and thought he was important.
He and Pete had a wee fracas.
It all ‘happened’ after Hoffman tried to usurp Pete’s microphone on the Woodstock stage and Townshend told him where to go and later saw him as nothing ‘new’ or ‘better’ than the rest of them wannabees.
I’d always liked The Who after seeing them in the Woodstock Film and gradually got to know their back catalogue too.
The four tracks that still work best for me are Pete’s deal with God, ‘Bargain, and ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ from Who’s Next, ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ from Quadrophenia and my favourite when he stole a Jim Reeves classic for his Who Came First Album, ‘There’s a Heartache Following me’.
That will be one of my Desert Island Disc tracks.
But listen to Jim Reeves too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWUsn9Cvzis
When it comes to The Who albums I probably think Quadrophenia is the best.
And I particularly loved the film.
Britain used to make great music and films.
I wonder what actually happened to Jimmy Cooper played by Phil Daniels.
I bet he became a very right wing Tory MP in a safe southern seat.
acebook.com/RobyPredaFCIM/videos/quadrophenia-1979-last-scene/1393679877570/
Posted in: Andy’s Sting in the Tale, Latest News
