A Shite State of Affairs: All Things Scottish Soccer 2015-16

CodPiece XL

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He hasn't been to a Sox-Yankees game yet, but the crowd intensity of those games has subsided significantly since 2004, at least to my eye. Not that I'd trade 2004 to get it back.

At this point in time, I think the closest atmosphere a Boston sports venue can come to an Old Firm match would be a B's-Habs Game 7 playoff. The Pats have some bitter rivals, but the crowds at Gillette are just too sedate (comparitively). A Sox-Yanks ALCS matchup would probably get there, but the stakes don't seem as high anymore; nothing can top 2003-04.

This is me and the kid at the boozer on Sunday morning. Hopefully I've set him on a course toward an inferiority complex and the inevitable struggle with alcoholism.

That's brilliant. My wife always asks me would I want any of our kids to be Celtic fans, we have not started yet. I'm on the fence about it. I'd love them to play soccer, I've got a pretty good grasp of the game, I'd be clueless about baseball or football ( American). I mean, I can't throw a spiral never had a mitt etc. I love the game but the whole living in Scotland and the Old Firm left a bad taste in the mouth. More so looking back and being in the U.S for so long.

When I moved to Boston, this girl took me to a bar in Southie for a Rangers -Celtic game. I can't remember the name of it , but if I saw it on a list I'd be able to pick it out. Anyway, it was a real Republican bar and they had a "whip round" for the "cause" at half time. I felt really uncomfortable. I soon found other bars showing Celtic games which were a bit more....family friendly for lack of a better word. I was living at Coolidge Corner at the time. That must be an old shirt you are wearing, I have the same one (NTL)....I think it's from around 2003-4?

I've heard the Yanks-Red Sox games have lost a bit of passion but I've not been to one since the late 90's. I used to get tickets behind home plate courtesy of someone in the front office. However, I had mates who would always be in the bleachers for the Yanks-Red Sox games. I gave up my tickets and would join them in the bleachers and had an absolute blast. I loved that atmosphere. Some of the heckling was hysterical...you got to hear Boston fan's humor at it's very best

When I first moved to Boston in 94 the Red Sox were crap as were the Patriots. I used to get free tickets to Patriots games and they were so bad I could never get anyone to go with me. I get accused of being a band wagoner all the time...then I have to explain I became a fan during a pretty dark spell for both teams when I first moved to Boston from Scotland. The thing I will always remember most is never missing a Pedro game...I feel blessed that I saw him play when he was at his best. The atmosphere was always electric.

I would suggest taking your son to Parkhead for a European game...it's absolutely the best. Something on the bucket list if time permits. An old firm game not so much...it's far from healthy or at least wait until he's older. My wife wants me to take her to a game in October when we are over there...we may or may not. Of course we have no idea what the fixture list is but she is determined to go.

The other day I was watching some game, I can't remember who was playing. Anyway she disappeared out of the room and came back 30 seconds later wearing a Man Utd away top. We've been married 10 years....never had a clue she had a football shirt...it was a WTF moment for sure.
 

CodPiece XL

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I was just thinking we could add Roberto Martinez to the mix as far as potential managers. Everton's season has quickly gone down the shitter and if they can't bounce Man Utd out of the FA cup he's probably a goner. Even that may not save him. Same caveats apply about having full control of transfers though.

Moyes apparently has made all the right statements about what a wonderful club Celtic is but he's nae making decision until the summer. I doubt it has anything to do with Deila staying on until the end of the season. More likely he's thinking" haud on" and keeping an eye on the Everton situation...or whatever EPL club is looking for a manager come end of season.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Dec 12, 2004
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Brendan Rodgers appointed as Celtic manager.

Great get for them. He was in over his head at times at Liverpool, but if he learns from it he's still absolutely an above-average manager who fosters exciting football.
 

SoxFanInCali

has the rich, deep voice of a god
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He signed a 12-month rolling contract. So basically he starts the job with no job security. Strange that he would agree to that.
 

fletcherpost

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Hibs end a 114 year wait for a Scottish Cup Final victory.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36292302

"A late David Gray header saw Hibernian beat Rangers to end a tortuous 114-year wait to lift the Scottish Cup.

Anthony Stokes scored twice for Hibs, either side of goals from Kenny Miller and Andy Halliday.

Then Gray headed in the winner before Hibs celebrated a timeless triumph.

Hibs fans spilled onto the pitch in their thousands after the final whistle, with some running towards the Rangers end, where pockets of supporters broke to confront them.

Players and match officials were caught up in the pitch invasion, which eventually saw mounted police enter the pitch.

Both sides had to leave the field, with Rangers given their medals in the dressing room and Hibs waiting for the pitch to be cleared before they could emerge to collect the trophy"

I was having an afternoon nap whilst the game was on, with my window open, normally i hear cheers from random houses when Rangers win, so i had a funny feeling hibs might have done the business when i went to check the score, and right enough...
 

fletcherpost

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-36350220

"Fans invaded the pitch at Hampden following Hibernian's historic victory over Rangers in the Scottish Cup final.

The Edinburgh side beat the Ibrox club 3-2 with a late goal in injury time.

Hibs fans spilled onto the park after the full-time whistle. Rangers fans followed and mounted police were deployed to keep both sets of supporters apart.

Rangers said some of their players were assaulted. The SFA said a full investigation would be carried out."

Bad day for the Unionists. Bad day for Scottish football. But there are few good days in Scottish Football. At least the women's team are a stick on to make it to the Euros.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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I'm really surprised to read Hibs have gone that long since winning the cup.

Is Hibs/Gers much of a thing? I know Hibs' history is as an Irish club but I didn't really think of them as dividing on sectarian lines these days. Or is it more of a Glasgow v. Edinburgh rivalry?

When the details come out, I will be surprised if there wasn't some element of Rangers' supporters having a role too.
 

CodPiece XL

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Well so much for me saying Brendan Rogers was just a pipe dream. I'm glad to be wrong. I'm hearing that season ticket sales were soaring today. This will be fun. I'm curious to see how much of a "war chest" he will have for signing new players. I'm hoping this signifies a departure from their buying a pile of shit and see what sticks mentality. This is the first time I've been excited about Celtic in years, although it is interesting to read people's opinion on BR. It's a mixed bag indeed, although almost all the negativity I've seen are from LFC supporters.
 

CodPiece XL

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-36350220

"Fans invaded the pitch at Hampden following Hibernian's historic victory over Rangers in the Scottish Cup final.

The Edinburgh side beat the Ibrox club 3-2 with a late goal in injury time.

Hibs fans spilled onto the park after the full-time whistle. Rangers fans followed and mounted police were deployed to keep both sets of supporters apart.

Rangers said some of their players were assaulted. The SFA said a full investigation would be carried out."

Bad day for the Unionists. Bad day for Scottish football. But there are few good days in Scottish Football. At least the women's team are a stick on to make it to the Euros.

I watched the game on the BBC today, I had a feeling it may be a cracker and it was. I've seen a few videos of the pitch invasion and both sets of supporters were idiots, however, I do blame the Hibs fans. Shades of 1980...but not as bad. Talk about bad timing....my wife was in the room at the end of the game and asked me was it normal for a game to end that way...keep in mind she wants me to take her to a game in October.

It's good to see that BR has already upped Stokes game...
 

fletcherpost

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Been reading a bit (on forums) about the post match at hampden. So, it seems the Hibs fans were delerious after winning the Scottish cup for the first time on over a century and invaded the pitch. Some Hibs fans were a bit mad wae it and dug up some turf and climbed on the goalposts. Allegations of players being attacked and fracas between rival fans.

The Rangers fans - no idea what they were doing on the pitch. Anyway the Unionist media, or rather the Scottish media is going with the Hibs are thugs etc narrative. Obviously don't condone any violence or if rangers players were attacked or assaulted then those Hibs fans are arseholes and deserve all they get.

Anyway, here's the Hibs fans singing Sunshine on Leith, a song written by a couple of Fifers.


And here's some nice rangers fans singing some fine ditties at the Semi Final.

 

CodPiece XL

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Rangers fans were singing the Billy Boys song most of the match. Plus the flares. I noticed that the BBC commentary team never mentioned that. Probably too frightened to. As usual they sing about killing Catholics and being up to their knees in "fenian" blood. I actually don't have a problem with whatever songs fans decide to sing..."sticks and stones" etc. However, in this politically correct society right now...the BBC never mentioned it..cowards.

Regardless, don't invade the pitch, don't dig up the turf, don't break the goal posts...and this is the most important thing of all, don't cross over the half way line to get in front of the opposing fans faces and goad them at their end. The sevco media are making a big deal of the fact that they were restrained, only a handful, they say. It was more than a handful. Personally, I don't care how long you have waited to win a trophy...you don't do that shit. Especially with a rabid mob at the other end...it will only end in tears..and it did. Let's see what happens through due course with the legal process. Hibs fans to me, were in the wrong. There are too many psychos at the other end to simply say...Rangers fans should have just ignored it.The hard core simply can't.
 

inter tatters

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Not going to mention too much of what went on after the game, we all saw it, we all make our own minds up. Got to think Hibs will get hit with the infamous "Failing to control their Fans" (as if the club could, honestly, have done anything about it) and, if the rumours of Rangers' players and officials getting assaulted are true, maybe the Police may get involved. Rangers will probably get a ticking off for their fans entering the field too, but with that sea of supporters charging the field and a lot of them trying to goad you, you're always going to get the odd hard core that will snap, as CodPiece said.

However, here's a more general point. Seen a couple of posts about the "Sevco media" in here and I chuckled to myself. I'm no rabid "Blue Nose", but I do read various boards and the Rangers fans seem to think exactly the same news media are biased against them. We all know about the BBC ban - who did mention both the flares from the Rangers end and the Billy Boys in their report on the website, CodPiece - and the almost complete ban on buying the Daily Record/Sunday Mail, due to what Rangers Fans see as blatant bias against their club. So to a question: if both sides of the "Great Glasgow Divide" see the media as biased against their club, doesn't that probably mean that the media is doing it's job and writing it down the middle the majority of the time?

Lastly, in a strictly Football sense, Hibs played the better Football, deserved to win and congrats to them for finally killing off 100+ years of bad luck and putting the jokes and put-downs behind them. Just wish it hadn't been so late in the game, then maybe the scenes we had at the Final whistle wouldn't have happened or, at least, less excessively?
 

CodPiece XL

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Not going to mention too much of what went on after the game, we all saw it, we all make our own minds up. Got to think Hibs will get hit with the infamous "Failing to control their Fans" (as if the club could, honestly, have done anything about it) and, if the rumours of Rangers' players and officials getting assaulted are true, maybe the Police may get involved. Rangers will probably get a ticking off for their fans entering the field too, but with that sea of supporters charging the field and a lot of them trying to goad you, you're always going to get the odd hard core that will snap, as CodPiece said.

However, here's a more general point. Seen a couple of posts about the "Sevco media" in here and I chuckled to myself. I'm no rabid "Blue Nose", but I do read various boards and the Rangers fans seem to think exactly the same news media are biased against them. We all know about the BBC ban - who did mention both the flares from the Rangers end and the Billy Boys in their report on the website, CodPiece - and the almost complete ban on buying the Daily Record/Sunday Mail, due to what Rangers Fans see as blatant bias against their club. So to a question: if both sides of the "Great Glasgow Divide" see the media as biased against their club, doesn't that probably mean that the media is doing it's job and writing it down the middle the majority of the time?

Lastly, in a strictly Football sense, Hibs played the better Football, deserved to win and congrats to them for finally killing off 100+ years of bad luck and putting the jokes and put-downs behind them. Just wish it hadn't been so late in the game, then maybe the scenes we had at the Final whistle wouldn't have happened or, at least, less excessively?
I think it fair to say that both sets of supporters have issues with press/media. That does not mean it's doing a good job, don't forget one of my main gripes is listening to Sportsound or Radio Clyde sports and I would have to say, both are very pro-Rangers.

However, you are 100% correct, Rangers fans see it the opposite way, they see it as "us against them" . The media are kicking "us when we are down". I think it was Chris McLaughlin and Chick Young who were banned. In the former case Rangers felt there was unwarranted attention on Rangers fans being arrested at a Hibs game..then later someone leaked that Charles Green was planning to sack McCoist. Then there was another ban shortly after following the BBC's documentary about Craig Whytes take over.

Personally I have always found the Scottish press both compliant and enablers as far as Rangers are concerned. Decades of an anti-Catholic signing policy conveniently denuded by the press. In fact, I know people personally who worked at newspapers who wanted to cover the story and were told "don't go there" by the editors. More recently , it has been the old "Scottish football will never survive", and the fabled "it was the company and not Rangers that went bust". As I said previously, it's the general narrative.

I'm a part owner of a successful company but we are small. If our creditors decided not to pay us, decided to close shop and start all over again but claim to be the same entity I would be pretty pissed. Just in case anyone needs reminding , here is the full list of creditors: Everyone, from the police, the local corner shop, even a face painter believe it or not.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/rangers-administration-full-list-of-creditors-1-2325870

So, when I hear the press say they are the same club, yes it sticks in my craw. It's sort of like saying it it wasn't really the Hindenburg that crashed, it was the holding vessel containing the hydrogen that went up in flames. If the Rangers board truly believe they are the same club, pay these poor bastards. Or just simply start wearing shirts that say "Fu-k You! Payment is for losers".
 

CodPiece XL

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Not going to mention too much of what went on after the game, we all saw it, we all make our own minds up. Got to think Hibs will get hit with the infamous "Failing to control their Fans" (as if the club could, honestly, have done anything about it) and, if the rumours of Rangers' players and officials getting assaulted are true, maybe the Police may get involved. Rangers will probably get a ticking off for their fans entering the field too, but with that sea of supporters charging the field and a lot of them trying to goad you, you're always going to get the odd hard core that will snap, as CodPiece said.

However, here's a more general point. Seen a couple of posts about the "Sevco media" in here and I chuckled to myself. I'm no rabid "Blue Nose", but I do read various boards and the Rangers fans seem to think exactly the same news media are biased against them. We all know about the BBC ban - who did mention both the flares from the Rangers end and the Billy Boys in their report on the website, CodPiece - and the almost complete ban on buying the Daily Record/Sunday Mail, due to what Rangers Fans see as blatant bias against their club. So to a question: if both sides of the "Great Glasgow Divide" see the media as biased against their club, doesn't that probably mean that the media is doing it's job and writing it down the middle the majority of the time?

Lastly, in a strictly Football sense, Hibs played the better Football, deserved to win and congrats to them for finally killing off 100+ years of bad luck and putting the jokes and put-downs behind them. Just wish it hadn't been so late in the game, then maybe the scenes we had at the Final whistle wouldn't have happened or, at least, less excessively?

Back to football....what do you think about Joey Barton...I think it's a great signing for Rangers...yes he has baggage...but he is a pretty darn good player who should sleep walk through the SPL?

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36360594
 

mic99

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Jul 18, 2005
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Great turnout today....seems like a huge win considering the malaise surrounding the support over the past few years. It is now the clubs turn to support him.

 

CodPiece XL

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Great turnout today....seems like a huge win considering the malaise surrounding the support over the past few years. It is now the clubs turn to support him.

I'm genuinely excited Mic. I want a return to fast flowing attacking football. BR is a good "one on one" coach, I think he will get the best out of the young ones but a lot of flotsam and jetsam will get their marching orders. Too many players were just picking up their pay packet...I spent the last two years watching Celtic out of habit...not because of the football.

I'm sad to see Dundee Utd go down..I was on school boy forms with them when I was a lad. A belated "welcome to the SPL for Rangers". I have certain issues with them which I'll do my best not to bring up in the next thread. I hope that all Scottish football loving Red Sox fans will post here without fear of prejudice.....we all have something in common. A love for the game....Scots Wha Hae.! Unless you are Irish and insert something equally exuberant...but you get my point. On to next season...
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Back to football....what do you think about Joey Barton...I think it's a great signing for Rangers...yes he has baggage...but he is a pretty darn good player who should sleep walk through the SPL?

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36360594
Seems like a match made in heaven. :)

I was sort of looking forward to seeing Barton back in the BPL, but I think he will be a good player in Glasgow. He's always entertaining and makes the midfield tough slogging for opponents.
 

Titans Bastard

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A non-League club has been promoted to the SPFL via normal sporting means for the first time in history this year. Edinburgh City of the Lowland League dispatched Cove Rangers of the Highland League, and then went on to beat East Sterlingshire in a two-legged playoff.
 

inter tatters

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I think Barton is a very smart signing by Warburton. Centre midfield was a slight weak spot for Rangers this year, leading to too many lost possessions and breakaways by the opposition. At the top, that is likely to be even more exposed, so a good ball-winning, leader-type, is exactly what the team needed in there. They have the attacking flair, they just needed more grit. A good start to the summer, signings wise at least.

As for Rogers, a great pick up for Celtic. His style of play should make for a very entertaining league next year.
 

fletcherpost

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Can we be optimistic about Scottish football? Why not even just for a few months. Rogers is a great get for Celtic. He's a name. It didn't work out at Liverpool, but it was great experience, and it doesn't work out for the vast majroity of managers anywhere these days. He's already said the right things in terms of the bduget available to him and working ont he youth system and European ambitions and retaining the SPL, and being a fan of the club. I wish him all the very best.

I think it's fine to talk about Rangers, and Celtic in any which way we see fit as long as it's well presented...as it tends to be here. There's too much scuppering of intellectual, forward thinking discussion about most things Scottish over here...Christ I live in Govan, do a radio show and can't mention the Old Firm, and as such can't talk about Scottish football at all on air, cos in the past it's never ended well. So i hope we can as ever have decent discussion.

I want as i have always wanted, a stronger Scottish game and product. We need more money here in Scotland. for that to happen we need exciting competetive matches. We need a strong Aberdeen and Hearts, i hope they come back stronger next season. I'd love it if there were any Soshers who were Jambos or Dons, knew more about the clubs ins and outs than I do - i know precious little outside of what can be seen heard and read. But Celtic have not been great the last few seasons. If i was a fan of the other teams in the SPL I'd want my team to kick on, to not be overawed by the Old Firm and to be inspired by Leicester City's success.

If Rangers can compete, if Aberdeen and Hearts make some decent signings and have some good youngsters coming through, then we have the makings of a good league...a better product for selling.

Maybe next season we can take a closer look at who runs the SFA and the SPL, and draw some conclusions as to how good or bad these folks are for the game. I know the SPL has been relatively weak, but I'd still say the TV rights were sold on the cheap.

Maybe the Startks Park Rovers can get promoted this season. Be nice to see Hibs back in the top tier. I feel optimistic, but it's blazing sunshine outside and there's plenty time to have one's hopes dashed. Such is life in Jockistan.