Covid protocols - ‘Govt money wanted’

[Nookie Bear]

11 minutes ago, robbo1874 said:

Here's hoping. 

Jeez could this see us stuck in the championship?

It's a ****ing mess,made worse by useless administration

 

Well we need to get that question answered before the season starts.

 

Time to put the pressure on.

[Deevers]

25 minutes ago, Tommy Brown said:

 

Just want Celtic to totally feck up in the Europa Leage now

Wouldn’t that be just perfect. 

[The Old Tolbooth]

2 hours ago, SE16 3LN said:

St Mirren and the rest gambled that by expelling us and keeping the money to themselves they would come through. It was a gamble and its failed. Surely they were not so thick that they didn't have a plan B. Cut your full time squad to sixteen, cut their wages by 50%, put your non playing staff on part time Wages with a govt. top up and on you go. Life isn't fair but they didn't give two ****s about us. How could so many get it so wrong?

 

Exactly this! 

 

I'm staggered at how many club chairmen, and also chairmen of certain leagues have stated that they're seriously disappointed and shocked that fans won't be allowed in just yet because there's a killer virus on the go....really? Anyone, any club chairman, and any league chairman that was this short sighted, doesn't deserve to be in business, doesn't deserve to be in a job, and if clubs now go to the wall because they believed that fans would be back before Xmas, then tough shit. 

 

I see no reason for any government to bale out sport, there are far more important things to bale out than football clubs who pay exorbitant wages miles above the ordinary working man, the government could save far more jobs on the street than saving football clubs (and I get that ordinary jobs are also affected by football clubs hardships, but these clubs would rather sack the small men/women at their clubs and keep the over paid, over rated, primadonnas, than have any morals about saving the average Joe's job)

 

Hibs are dying to get fans in no later than Xmas time, after that they've run out of cash unless Ron the con bales them out and yet have splashed out transfer fees on players, using money they could have kept to keep their club going longer, I personally hope we don't see fans back inside stadiums until next season at the earliest and my own personal feeling is that I wouldn't feel safe anyway, the fallout will be worth kicking the feet up in the chair with, and opening a few beers to! 

 

On a side note, I watched Sparta Prague v Karvina on TV at the weekend, and they let limited fans into the stadium, did they stay in their seats? Not a chance, they all congregated in a big crowd behind the goals and let off fireworks and made an atmosphere, so even if fans are allowed back into stadiums, can you trust them to stay apart on not act like irresponsible morons? That's probably a bigger question than when they can be allowed back to be honest. 

[Hagar the Horrible]

Going by the Colchester statement  I can see his point, but equally I can see the governments points.  Covid does not care about how well Colchester mitigates risk, its still a risk.  That risk has now seen a second wave that will be worse than the first one, because we relaxed the rules to kick start the economy, and to keep the Schools open, Pubs and restaurants like it or not employ more people than football does.  I agree that government loans could provide rest bite, but only to certain industries.

 

Taking England for example Colchester are part of a machine that as a whole has £3000m pumped into it yet spends something like £4000m    The league needs to look at this and for a while address the balance, if they want to keep clubs going, but those clubs in the lower league. Split the TV money equally.  Salary caps,  and punishment for a breach of FFP.  Its not Boris’ or Nicolas fault that clubs run up debt and have no money for this particular rainy day!!!!  Leeds went all in “do or die” to reach the promised land, had they failed there would have been NO Leeds and Covid  could not be blamed.  Football across the board spends far more than it earns.  Pubs and Restaurants don’t have a TV deal,  Football does still have a revenue.  Time to cut its cloth and stop complaining.

 

In Scotland we only serve Celtic, time to spit the rubbish TV deal with sky evenly across all 42 clubs.  Let’s hear from Celtic whom has socialist roots agree with that?  Oh wait we have the 11/1 vote.  Reap what you sow.

 

I am not prepared to buy 100 pints from the pub and not drink it, just to keep the pub open.  But I am prepared to keep buying my season ticket and donate to the FoH for as long as it takes to keep us alive.

 

We are all being chased by a hungry pack of wolves, We don’t and cant outrun the wolves but let’s make sure we can outrun everybody else and by the time the pack gets to us, they are too well fed and tired.  We survive, we get to decide the future of the game…..NOT Celtic /SFA/SPFL .

[Gordon Ramsay]

1 hour ago, SectionDJambo said:

The SPFL actions and plans, since the shutdown in March, have been all about self interest, easy options, no expectation of the pandemic lasting longer than a few months and, in Doncaster's case, doing as little as possible for any clubs outwith the Premiership. Then there was the immediate priority of making sure Celtic could play in the Champions League, which they messed up again, and trying to delay the first old firm game, coincidentally at Parkhead, until spectators might be allowed back in. 

The SPFL board, and almost all of it's member clubs, were not interested in the severe financial hit they were landing on Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer. We 3 had to "take our medicine" and told to remember that "there are always winners and losers". Now was "not the right time" for a reconstruction to try to come to a collective solution to try to save all of the clubs. Far better to have wasted the spring and summer, ensuring that those 3 clubs failed in their bid to persuade the rest that we should be working together to the common good of all. It wasn't all about Hearts and we were just "squealing like pigs".

Now, here we are, with Petrie and Doncaster pleading with the government to treat the SPFL as a special case, as it would be unfair that such a financial burden, of no paying spectators for the foreseeable future, will threaten the survival of many clubs.  Where was their concern about the 3 clubs, and others cheated out of a real chance of promotion, by their actions over the summer? Petrie and Dempster's talking shop, and distraction from reconstruction to help all the clubs, the JRG, has come up with little or nothing positive in 5 months. Their only major input was to stop Hearts training for a week, because it "wasn't fair" on the other clubs in the Championship.

Having tried to blame Hearts and Partick for causing uncertainty and damage to the SPFL prospects by our court action, they are now trying to pin the blame on the Scottish government for the financial disaster that looks to be coming. It is, of course, nothing to do with having no league sponsor, refunding broadcast income for curtailing last season, or having no scheme in place for the streaming of matches from all matches, thus earning money from viewers and advertising.

As we have known for years, but it's really been emphasised over the last few months, Scottish football is run by incompetent nitwits, most of whom are only interested in making sure that Celtic, in particular, and Rangers are looked after. Any long term damage caused to Scottish football will be self inflicted by this acceptance of failure by the SPFL clubs and the hopeless and blinkered Scottish sports media. They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

 

Brilliant post. Bang on. 

[Jim Panzee]

31 minutes ago, Nookie Bear said:

I think we need to publicly push the SPFL to ensure they commit to promotion and relegation at the end of this season.

 

We also need to publicly get their commitment that non-SPL games will be played and, if not, the points are forfeited.

our new CEO will at least have a window into possible thoughts behind the scenes of the SP(professional? - ha!)FL. I'm sure he'll have a good idea buttons to press and when

[Nookie Bear]

5 minutes ago, Jim Panzee said:

our new CEO will at least have a window into possible thoughts behind the scenes of the SP(professional? - ha!)FL. I'm sure he'll have a good idea buttons to press and when

 

His main problem will be trying to focus their attention away from the top division.

 

Perhaps a gentle reminder that we have invested heavily in our squad and their health the past couple of months and expect the league to go ahead...or else we will be seeking compensation.

[The Old Tolbooth]

1 hour ago, SectionDJambo said:

The SPFL actions and plans, since the shutdown in March, have been all about self interest, easy options, no expectation of the pandemic lasting longer than a few months and, in Doncaster's case, doing as little as possible for any clubs outwith the Premiership. Then there was the immediate priority of making sure Celtic could play in the Champions League, which they messed up again, and trying to delay the first old firm game, coincidentally at Parkhead, until spectators might be allowed back in. 

The SPFL board, and almost all of it's member clubs, were not interested in the severe financial hit they were landing on Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer. We 3 had to "take our medicine" and told to remember that "there are always winners and losers". Now was "not the right time" for a reconstruction to try to come to a collective solution to try to save all of the clubs. Far better to have wasted the spring and summer, ensuring that those 3 clubs failed in their bid to persuade the rest that we should be working together to the common good of all. It wasn't all about Hearts and we were just "squealing like pigs".

Now, here we are, with Petrie and Doncaster pleading with the government to treat the SPFL as a special case, as it would be unfair that such a financial burden, of no paying spectators for the foreseeable future, will threaten the survival of many clubs.  Where was their concern about the 3 clubs, and others cheated out of a real chance of promotion, by their actions over the summer? Petrie and Dempster's talking shop, and distraction from reconstruction to help all the clubs, the JRG, has come up with little or nothing positive in 5 months. Their only major input was to stop Hearts training for a week, because it "wasn't fair" on the other clubs in the Championship.

Having tried to blame Hearts and Partick for causing uncertainty and damage to the SPFL prospects by our court action, they are now trying to pin the blame on the Scottish government for the financial disaster that looks to be coming. It is, of course, nothing to do with having no league sponsor, refunding broadcast income for curtailing last season, or having no scheme in place for the streaming of matches from all matches, thus earning money from viewers and advertising.

As we have known for years, but it's really been emphasised over the last few months, Scottish football is run by incompetent nitwits, most of whom are only interested in making sure that Celtic, in particular, and Rangers are looked after. Any long term damage caused to Scottish football will be self inflicted by this acceptance of failure by the SPFL clubs and the hopeless and blinkered Scottish sports media. They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

 

Post of the year, by a country mile! 

[robbo1874]

23 minutes ago, Nookie Bear said:

 

Well we need to get that question answered before the season starts.

 

Time to put the pressure on.

Yes good point, act now to force their hand rather than waiting because we know they'll ram us.

 

[AndyNic]

1 hour ago, SectionDJambo said:

The SPFL actions and plans, since the shutdown in March, have been all about self interest, easy options, no expectation of the pandemic lasting longer than a few months and, in Doncaster's case, doing as little as possible for any clubs outwith the Premiership. Then there was the immediate priority of making sure Celtic could play in the Champions League, which they messed up again, and trying to delay the first old firm game, coincidentally at Parkhead, until spectators might be allowed back in. 

The SPFL board, and almost all of it's member clubs, were not interested in the severe financial hit they were landing on Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer. We 3 had to "take our medicine" and told to remember that "there are always winners and losers". Now was "not the right time" for a reconstruction to try to come to a collective solution to try to save all of the clubs. Far better to have wasted the spring and summer, ensuring that those 3 clubs failed in their bid to persuade the rest that we should be working together to the common good of all. It wasn't all about Hearts and we were just "squealing like pigs".

Now, here we are, with Petrie and Doncaster pleading with the government to treat the SPFL as a special case, as it would be unfair that such a financial burden, of no paying spectators for the foreseeable future, will threaten the survival of many clubs.  Where was their concern about the 3 clubs, and others cheated out of a real chance of promotion, by their actions over the summer? Petrie and Dempster's talking shop, and distraction from reconstruction to help all the clubs, the JRG, has come up with little or nothing positive in 5 months. Their only major input was to stop Hearts training for a week, because it "wasn't fair" on the other clubs in the Championship.

Having tried to blame Hearts and Partick for causing uncertainty and damage to the SPFL prospects by our court action, they are now trying to pin the blame on the Scottish government for the financial disaster that looks to be coming. It is, of course, nothing to do with having no league sponsor, refunding broadcast income for curtailing last season, or having no scheme in place for the streaming of matches from all matches, thus earning money from viewers and advertising.

As we have known for years, but it's really been emphasised over the last few months, Scottish football is run by incompetent nitwits, most of whom are only interested in making sure that Celtic, in particular, and Rangers are looked after. Any long term damage caused to Scottish football will be self inflicted by this acceptance of failure by the SPFL clubs and the hopeless and blinkered Scottish sports media. They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

 

What a load of absolute shite!

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Only joking. Absolutely bang on the money there 👍🏼

Edited September 24, 2020 by AndyNic

[manaliveits105]

Some guy on Talksport said he had £200m loan available from US investors to invest in EPL to help out  if the EPL just pay the interest - he thought the Championship clubs could probably survive but the government would have to help out lower league clubs in difficulty.He didnt think the government would help the EPL.

Maybe Donkey could speak to Dodgy Desmond about a loan for the SPL 

[jambokev]

2 hours ago, SectionDJambo said:

The SPFL actions and plans, since the shutdown in March, have been all about self interest, easy options, no expectation of the pandemic lasting longer than a few months and, in Doncaster's case, doing as little as possible for any clubs outwith the Premiership. Then there was the immediate priority of making sure Celtic could play in the Champions League, which they messed up again, and trying to delay the first old firm game, coincidentally at Parkhead, until spectators might be allowed back in. 

The SPFL board, and almost all of it's member clubs, were not interested in the severe financial hit they were landing on Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer. We 3 had to "take our medicine" and told to remember that "there are always winners and losers". Now was "not the right time" for a reconstruction to try to come to a collective solution to try to save all of the clubs. Far better to have wasted the spring and summer, ensuring that those 3 clubs failed in their bid to persuade the rest that we should be working together to the common good of all. It wasn't all about Hearts and we were just "squealing like pigs".

Now, here we are, with Petrie and Doncaster pleading with the government to treat the SPFL as a special case, as it would be unfair that such a financial burden, of no paying spectators for the foreseeable future, will threaten the survival of many clubs.  Where was their concern about the 3 clubs, and others cheated out of a real chance of promotion, by their actions over the summer? Petrie and Dempster's talking shop, and distraction from reconstruction to help all the clubs, the JRG, has come up with little or nothing positive in 5 months. Their only major input was to stop Hearts training for a week, because it "wasn't fair" on the other clubs in the Championship.

Having tried to blame Hearts and Partick for causing uncertainty and damage to the SPFL prospects by our court action, they are now trying to pin the blame on the Scottish government for the financial disaster that looks to be coming. It is, of course, nothing to do with having no league sponsor, refunding broadcast income for curtailing last season, or having no scheme in place for the streaming of matches from all matches, thus earning money from viewers and advertising.

As we have known for years, but it's really been emphasised over the last few months, Scottish football is run by incompetent nitwits, most of whom are only interested in making sure that Celtic, in particular, and Rangers are looked after. Any long term damage caused to Scottish football will be self inflicted by this acceptance of failure by the SPFL clubs and the hopeless and blinkered Scottish sports media. They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

[Deevers]

4 minutes ago, manaliveits105 said:

Some guy on Talksport said he had £200m loan available from US investors to invest in EPL to help out  if the EPL just pay the interest - he thought the Championship clubs could probably survive but the government would have to help out lower league clubs in difficulty.He didnt think the government would help the EPL.

Maybe Donkey could speak to Dodgy Desmond about a loan for the SPL 

The wagons will be being circled as far as Celtic are concerned. They might well have their own problems with a huge wage bill to manage.  With all the financial uncertainty about just now their financial backers might just be pulling back as well. Going to a tough time for teams like St Mirren, St Johnstone, and Hamilton. I would not be surprised to see all three go under. 

[manaliveits105]

2 minutes ago, Deevers said:

The wagons will be being circled as far as Celtic are concerned. They might well have their own problems with a huge wage bill to manage.  With all the financial uncertainty about just now their financial backers might just be pulling back as well. Going to a tough time for teams like St Mirren, St Johnstone, and Hamilton. I would not be surprised to see all three go under. 

Dont stop now Im nearly at the tickly bit 

[Italian Lambretta]

9 minutes ago, manaliveits105 said:

Some guy on Talksport said he had £200m loan available from US investors to invest in EPL to help out  if the EPL just pay the interest - he thought the Championship clubs could probably survive but the government would have to help out lower league clubs in difficulty.He didnt think the government would help the EPL.

Maybe Donkey could speak to Dodgy Desmond about a loan for the SPL 

 

A 200m loan when some of the EPL clubs are paying 100m for players

[Bret the Hitman Hearts]

2 hours ago, SectionDJambo said:

The SPFL actions and plans, since the shutdown in March, have been all about self interest, easy options, no expectation of the pandemic lasting longer than a few months and, in Doncaster's case, doing as little as possible for any clubs outwith the Premiership. Then there was the immediate priority of making sure Celtic could play in the Champions League, which they messed up again, and trying to delay the first old firm game, coincidentally at Parkhead, until spectators might be allowed back in. 

The SPFL board, and almost all of it's member clubs, were not interested in the severe financial hit they were landing on Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer. We 3 had to "take our medicine" and told to remember that "there are always winners and losers". Now was "not the right time" for a reconstruction to try to come to a collective solution to try to save all of the clubs. Far better to have wasted the spring and summer, ensuring that those 3 clubs failed in their bid to persuade the rest that we should be working together to the common good of all. It wasn't all about Hearts and we were just "squealing like pigs".

Now, here we are, with Petrie and Doncaster pleading with the government to treat the SPFL as a special case, as it would be unfair that such a financial burden, of no paying spectators for the foreseeable future, will threaten the survival of many clubs.  Where was their concern about the 3 clubs, and others cheated out of a real chance of promotion, by their actions over the summer? Petrie and Dempster's talking shop, and distraction from reconstruction to help all the clubs, the JRG, has come up with little or nothing positive in 5 months. Their only major input was to stop Hearts training for a week, because it "wasn't fair" on the other clubs in the Championship.

Having tried to blame Hearts and Partick for causing uncertainty and damage to the SPFL prospects by our court action, they are now trying to pin the blame on the Scottish government for the financial disaster that looks to be coming. It is, of course, nothing to do with having no league sponsor, refunding broadcast income for curtailing last season, or having no scheme in place for the streaming of matches from all matches, thus earning money from viewers and advertising.

As we have known for years, but it's really been emphasised over the last few months, Scottish football is run by incompetent nitwits, most of whom are only interested in making sure that Celtic, in particular, and Rangers are looked after. Any long term damage caused to Scottish football will be self inflicted by this acceptance of failure by the SPFL clubs and the hopeless and blinkered Scottish sports media. They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

 

[kingantti1874]

11 hours ago, farin said:

Some interesting points re fans inside stadiums from the Colchester chairman. 

 

Colchester United Chairman Robbie Cowling has issued the following open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

 

Dear Boris

I wrote to Colchester United’s local MP, Will Quince, exactly two weeks ago to explain the extraordinary lengths we were going to so that we can get paying supporters back into our stadium.

 

I provided him with a link, which you can read by clicking here, which is to an article I wrote for our supporters detailing the changes we have made for their safe return. These include changes to:

 

1. Our ticketing system which we have had to completely revamp.

2. Our seating areas where we have removed 1800 seats just so that we can ensure no fan has to even brush past another unless they are in the same support bubble.

3. The areas that surround our stadium to provide additional space and ensure attendees can move around the stadium whilst complying with the social distancing requirements.

 

The main reason for that letter to Will Quince was to request that the alcohol restrictions are lifted whilst we are only allowing home supporters into our stadium because we could see how that would increase safety even further.

Therefore, I’m sure you can imagine how devastated I was yesterday to hear that you have taken a broad brush approach which has rendered all of that work in vain and has stopped us from doing the one fundamental thing that all businesses need to do and that is trade.

 

Whilst working towards the return of our fans, we have totally understood the need for safety and we have taken all of the measures required to ensure our stadium is safe

 

However, with this one decision you have not only threatened the livelihoods of the staff at Colchester United and the local businesses that rely on our club, and not only those staff and local businesses of every other football club in the EFL, but those of every club across every sport in the UK.

 

I appreciate you must be very busy and you are having to make very difficult decisions but this was one area where you didn’t need to do a thing because we had it all under control and everything is in place to allow professional clubs to open safely.

As a professional football club, we are compelled to comply with the regulations, guidance and measures of the Sports Ground Safety Authority and we can’t open our stadiums unless a Safety Advisory Group, (SAG), made up of relevant representatives including medical professionals certify us as being safe.

 

The SAG use their expertise to determine on a club by club basis if our stadiums are fit to open our gates to the public and how many of the public are safe to attend.

This process hasn’t just been introduced during the pandemic, it has been in place for all of the fourteen years that I have owned a football club. It’s the responsible way in which we operate our stadiums at all times.

 

The SAGs understand the risk that COVID-19 represents and they have detailed knowledge of each and every professional football stadium in the UK.

They can determine at what levels those stadiums can operate safely. There is absolutely no reason for the Government to apply a rule that rides roughshod over the expertise of the SAGs.

 

It astounds me that a Government that introduces a ‘Whack a Mole’ approach to locking down those areas that represent a higher risk can’t introduce a system that recognises areas where the risk is much lower.

 

I suggest your Government quickly returns the responsibility for deciding how many attendees I can have at Colchester United fixtures from October to the Safety Advisory Groups because they have experience in these specific matters and know exactly what they are doing.

However, just so I understand it when I’m having to lay off even more staff, can someone explain to me again how I can safely sit in a confined aeroplane with 300 other passengers and I can safely eat inside a restaurant or drink inside a pub until 10pm but I can’t safely attend a football match which is predominately outside and has been certificated as safe by a SAG?

 

Robbie Cowling – Chairman, Colchester United Football Club

 

https://www.cu-fc.com/news/2020/september/robbies-letter-to-pm/ 

 

Thing is this entirely misses the point.. it’s actually not about fans inside stadiums, it’s about what fans do outside stadiums.. fans will come from all over the country for some teams, they will travel in shared cars, travel on buses or on trains, they will go for a pint, the will go for food, then they will take the infection back with them out into the community. 
 

there won’t be any fans in stadiums in anything other than token amounts.

[Pasquale for King]

1 hour ago, jamboinglasgow said:

This latest stage is a microcosm of various problems both in football and outside all coming together with self-interest being the common theme.

 

Clubs rather than make hard decisions earlier tried to take the easy short term option, and just hope things will be fine later. Now the reality has hit, they have gone to the press with unnamed sources to give the most apocalyptic scenario to force the hand of government (I suspect things are serious but wont be the most extreme they suggest.) The clubs and associations dont want to pay money so they are hoping the governement will just chuck money at them. The Scottish government has the powers to bail out the clubs (and it is a devolved matter) but they dont want to because a) they dont want to spend the money and b) they dont want to get blamed so are now trying to pass the buck to the UK government. The UK government wont want to fully bail out football because it could look bad that these clubs then spend millions on wages and fees while claiming poverty and putting serious enough money means lots of other industries will be demanding that they get a serious bail out.

 

So no one is taking responsibility, everyone wants to pass the blame, everyone is too focused on themselves and it is a mess.

The Scottish government does not have the money to bail any business out, stated once again yesterday by the admission that pubs would be shut if they could afford to pay furlough etc. The U.K. government doesn’t have the money either, it can borrow it though. As they bailed out Rugby League with a £16m loan other sports are well within their rights to ask for help too. 

[Mikey1874]

Nothing obvious from the Chancellor so far. More helps likes of hospitality. 

 

 

[Benny Factor]

11 minutes ago, Deevers said:

The wagons will be being circled as far as Celtic are concerned. They might well have their own problems with a huge wage bill to manage.  With all the financial uncertainty about just now their financial backers might just be pulling back as well. Going to a tough time for teams like St Mirren, St Johnstone, and Hamilton. I would not be surprised to see all three go under. 

 

[robbo1874]

There's no way Celtic will allow St Mirren to go under. They know where the where the bodies are buried

[The Mighty Thor]

The vermin first plz.

Followed by Hamilton, st Mirren, Ross County, Ayr, Raith, every other team 

[Deevers]

21 minutes ago, robbo1874 said:

There's no way Celtic will allow St Mirren to go under. They know where the where the bodies are buried

Celtic look after themselves first and foremost. They’ll not give two hoots for St Mirren or anybody else. 

[Hagar the Horrible]

8 minutes ago, Deevers said:

Celtic look after themselves first and foremost. They’ll not give two hoots for St Mirren or anybody else. 

Where were Celtic with a stand in goalkeeper when they were desperate?  Did Dundee get their big earning friendly?  naw and Naw

[gorgie rd eh11]

 

 There will be plans in place. Doncaster, Petrie and the like will have it under control. I mean you would have to be really really useless morons not to have contingencies.

[AndrewB]

2 minutes ago, gorgie rd eh11 said:

 

 There will be plans in place. Doncaster, Petrie and the like will have it under control. I mean you would have to be really really useless morons not to have contingencies.

😁

[merseyjambo]

My opinion, Celtic are going all in to ensure they win 10 in a row. They banked on ECL football which failed. They have splashed cash on players to come from the merchandising of a ‘quadruple or quintuple treble.

If it fails, I can see there being a fire sale at the end of the season cashing in on their prize assets.

 

Got to be honest, the gnashing of teeth JFK Lennon (still surprised he lived after the coin shot from the grassy knoll) is highly pleasing. I think he’s been told this needs to be won at all costs if not we need to dismantle and sell

[AndrewB]

2 minutes ago, merseyjambo said:

My opinion, Celtic are going all in to ensure they win 10 in a row. They banked on ECL football which failed. They have splashed cash on players to come from the merchandising of a ‘quadruple or quintuple treble.

If it fails, I can see there being a fire sale at the end of the season cashing in on their prize assets.

 

Got to be honest, the gnashing of teeth JFK Lennon (still surprised he lived after the coin shot from the grassy knoll) is highly pleasing. I think he’s been told this needs to be won at all costs if not we need to dismantle and sell

But "Broony" was in the paper saying that Europa League is more important than 10iar.  Aye, right!

 

 

 

[gorgie rd eh11]

 

 There will be plans in place. Doncaster, Petrie and the like will have it under control. I mean you would have to be really really useless morons not to have contingencies.

[Hagar the Horrible]

2 minutes ago, merseyjambo said:

My opinion, Celtic are going all in to ensure they win 10 in a row. They banked on ECL football which failed. They have splashed cash on players to come from the merchandising of a ‘quadruple or quintuple treble.

If it fails, I can see there being a fire sale at the end of the season cashing in on their prize assets.

 

Got to be honest, the gnashing of teeth JFK Lennon (still surprised he lived after the coin shot from the grassy knoll) is highly pleasing. I think he’s been told this needs to be won at all costs if not we need to dismantle and sell

I think the same rule applies to Slippy G,  The SPFL will need to keep that league at all costs too.  Until one club wants the season to end while they are on top....

[AndrewB]

7 minutes ago, farin said:

 

Yep, it’s simply not a viable option to allow anything like the amount of fans that clubs need cash wise into stadiums just now.

 

Certain clubs will fold by Xmas at this rate imo, it’s grassroots clubs working on a shoestring I feel most sorry for, not the mega rich ones paying obscene salaries to prima donnas tbh. This virus is changing the landscape in so many way for so many people not just in sport. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

I'm not sure about the smallest clubs.  They should have the smallest budgets and a quick whipround should cover a lot of their costs.  I think it is the mid-rank clubs who are in the most danger - St J, St M, Killie, both Dundee clubs, Pars, ICT.

 

Owners may be required to dig deep - hopefully, some will choose not to.  

 

I do have a fear that the SPFL will protect the Top 12 but in reality it will be the Top 2 who get protected.

 

[NaturalOrder74]

Tick tock 

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

The SPFL counted on the fact that if top flight football carried on, they at least had that to rely on. So they sacked off the bottom three leagues and left them to fester. Now it turns out that the entire pyramid is in the shit and they have no plan whatsoever, apart from to plead for help from the government.

 

Given that the first few weeks of the season have been a mess of failed Covid tests and postponement, you really wonder if we’ve hit the limit of their incompetence now. All I’ll say is, if the SPFL survives in anything like its present form it won’t been down to anything they’ve done.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

9 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

I think the same rule applies to Slippy G,  The SPFL will need to keep that league at all costs too.  Until one club wants the season to end while they are on top....

You can almost feel it coming - the league halting with Rangers a point or two clear and the SPFL shitting themselves as they try to decide who to upset and how not to contradict what happened this summer.

 

That scenario would be very

[blairdin]

A couple of stunning posts from Section Jambo and Hagar, as per. 

 

Nothing to add, it's popcorn time as far as I'm concerned. 

 

This is how I see Doncaster now. Out of ideas. 

 

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OGC.bec8c512ac5147e34b2acc8a380bda1f&pid=Api&rurl=https%3a%2f%2fmedia.giphy.com%2fmedia%2fauyoTqwrbAOcw%2fgiphy.gif&ehk=hv42RUr5B7WkExXhnkCDkoky%2f4YlFX%2f9t1heDPNhBWo%3d

Edited September 24, 2020 by blairdin

[Hectormasson]

2 hours ago, The Old Tolbooth said:

 

Post of the year, by a country mile! 

Very good indeed 👌👏👏👏👏👏

[scottg71]

Is Europa League even viable with no fans. Cost of travelling etc

[stevie1874]

5 hours ago, SectionDJambo said:

The SPFL actions and plans, since the shutdown in March, have been all about self interest, easy options, no expectation of the pandemic lasting longer than a few months and, in Doncaster's case, doing as little as possible for any clubs outwith the Premiership. Then there was the immediate priority of making sure Celtic could play in the Champions League, which they messed up again, and trying to delay the first old firm game, coincidentally at Parkhead, until spectators might be allowed back in. 

The SPFL board, and almost all of it's member clubs, were not interested in the severe financial hit they were landing on Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer. We 3 had to "take our medicine" and told to remember that "there are always winners and losers". Now was "not the right time" for a reconstruction to try to come to a collective solution to try to save all of the clubs. Far better to have wasted the spring and summer, ensuring that those 3 clubs failed in their bid to persuade the rest that we should be working together to the common good of all. It wasn't all about Hearts and we were just "squealing like pigs".

Now, here we are, with Petrie and Doncaster pleading with the government to treat the SPFL as a special case, as it would be unfair that such a financial burden, of no paying spectators for the foreseeable future, will threaten the survival of many clubs.  Where was their concern about the 3 clubs, and others cheated out of a real chance of promotion, by their actions over the summer? Petrie and Dempster's talking shop, and distraction from reconstruction to help all the clubs, the JRG, has come up with little or nothing positive in 5 months. Their only major input was to stop Hearts training for a week, because it "wasn't fair" on the other clubs in the Championship.

Having tried to blame Hearts and Partick for causing uncertainty and damage to the SPFL prospects by our court action, they are now trying to pin the blame on the Scottish government for the financial disaster that looks to be coming. It is, of course, nothing to do with having no league sponsor, refunding broadcast income for curtailing last season, or having no scheme in place for the streaming of matches from all matches, thus earning money from viewers and advertising.

As we have known for years, but it's really been emphasised over the last few months, Scottish football is run by incompetent nitwits, most of whom are only interested in making sure that Celtic, in particular, and Rangers are looked after. Any long term damage caused to Scottish football will be self inflicted by this acceptance of failure by the SPFL clubs and the hopeless and blinkered Scottish sports media. They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

👍 would love it if Hearts issued this as a statement 😁

[Mikey1874]

2 minutes ago, scottg71 said:

Is Europa League even viable with no fans. Cost of travelling etc

 

Even with fans qualifying can be a loss. 

 

Group stage prize money is worth it.

[Mikey1874]

Not sure if this is final. Yesterday it seemed Scottish Government was waiting on UK Government who seem to be saying 'No' today to support for 'elite' sport.

 

 

[DETTY29]

2 hours ago, gorgie rd eh11 said:

 

 There will be plans in place. Doncaster, Petrie and the like will have it under control. I mean you would have to be really really useless morons not to have contingencies.

Contingencies?

 

They should have catastrophic planning from Day 1.

[AndrewB]

So, Westminster Tory Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston has said “Where it can, we will expect the top tiers of professional sport to look at ways it can support itself, with the Government focusing on those most in need.”

 

Not sure if that is good or bad for us.

We're not in the top tier.  Perhaps Hibs will be forced to give us money as a lower league club.

Perhaps it means that the Top 12 will spend all their time and effort looking after themselves.

 

[Nookie Bear]

2 minutes ago, AndrewB said:

So, Westminster Tory Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston has said “Where it can, we will expect the top tiers of professional sport to look at ways it can support itself, with the Government focusing on those most in need.”

 

Not sure if that is good or bad for us.

We're not in the top tier.  Perhaps Hibs will be forced to give us money as a lower league club.

Perhaps it means that the Top 12 will spend all their time and effort looking after themselves.

 

 

This is clearly Doncaster's mindset. He sees us as collateral damage, knowing (or believing) we have been neutered by the failed court action.

[John Findlay]

13 minutes ago, Mikey1874 said:

Not sure if this is final. Yesterday it seemed Scottish Government was waiting on UK Government who seem to be saying 'No' today to support for 'elite' sport.

 

 

Those nasty nasty Tories.

[Rods]

I have my concerns on what these idiots at the SPFL and the SFA come up with regarding the lower leagues 

[Hagar the Horrible]

One thinkg if the top 12 close ranks, stop promotion, keep all the TV money, try to mothball all the lower leagues, then there will be serious trouble for Doncaster, all the clubs will riot,  more so those whom want to start the season.

 

Change is coming real soon, not planned, certainly unexpected (by these morons)   Popcorn time...Tick tock for clubs and Tick tock for Doncaster

[davemclaren]

2 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

One thinkg if the top 12 close ranks, stop promotion, keep all the TV money, try to mothball all the lower leagues, then there will be serious trouble for Doncaster, all the clubs will riot,  more so those whom want to start the season.

 

Change is coming real soon, not planned, certainly unexpected (by these morons)   Popcorn time...Tick tock for clubs and Tick tock for Doncaster

The top 12 can’t keep all the tv money. 

[Nookie Bear]

If I was the government I would be asking why we should bail out a business where we can pay the Chief Exec £400k per annum. 

[King Of The Cat Cafe]

10 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

The top 12 can’t keep all the tv money. 

 

How so?

[Hagar the Horrible]

9 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

The top 12 can’t keep all the tv money. 

daft question Number 1?  Why not?  If they vote for it, and if they force the lower leagues to mothball via the SFA/JRG

 

I think they will at worst vote for no promotion, but I just dont trust them one iota!