snorbens_caleyman

Thanks! But could you tell them that moving pictures have been invented?

Could someone nip down to Station Park and put a shilling in the meter, please?

https://www.ft.com/content/0243c597-c32c-4cfa-8632-097e8393d229 Mid-July: "A FT analysis of Premier League matches played “behind closed doors” since games resumed last month suggests, if anything, home teams are performing better than before the pandemic". Don't know if there is anything more recent.

Might get a few teams moaning about the early start they will have to make.

What's your source? A minute's research tells me that they are about the same.

I find this slightly odd, given that watching a football match is an outdoor activity, and the current thinking is that the risk of passing on the virus outdoors is low. I would have thought that a well-supervised and socially-distanced crowd - which might simply mean spreading out a normal crowd for the Championship and League 1&2 clubs - should be OK. Especially if they are self-policing as well - i.e. calling out anyone who is being stupid. Doofer's Dad posted his message above whilst I was typing this, but I thought I'd give you my tuppence-worth anyway.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Going-Ballistic-Paperback-Ian-S-Broadfoot/303620499354?epid=89238079&hash=item46b131279a:g:9gUAAOSwSmxfCZVa £20.94, free postage. They say they have two available. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Ballistic-Inverness-Caledonian-Thistle/dp/0953124010 7 used, from £20. https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/going-ballistic-inverness-caledonian-thistle-fc-the-first-decade-1994-5-to-2003-4/author/ian-s-broadfoot/ 4 available, from £19.50. There may be some overlap - ie the same vendors could be on more than one of those platforms.

Makes me think of lederhosen - hope they have the shorts and socks to complete the look

There is - you'd be taken to the cleaners by any half-decent law student No way on earth could that be fair. You do not change the rules of a competition once it is under way - unless with the agreement of all concerned. And I mean all concerned - look at the debacle about the ending of last season. That's enough from me on this!

But you could have a club saying "We have been penalised, but Aberdeen were not. Unfair!". It could make the difference between qualifying for Europe or not, or between being relegated or staying up - or simply a difference in prize money. So you would want to have the clubs agree to it. And we have just seen how well that works

The time for changing the rules to include points penalties was when any extra rules about bubbles and other covid precautions were agreed and introduced. It's not good to change the rules retrospectively after a specific event in the middle of a competition!

Greater Manchester is also in lockdown, and they are playing a test match at Old Trafford. Provided everyone involved obeys the rules, then it is reckoned that the risks can be managed. The test match bubble certainly excludes family - hence the fuss when one England player went home between Southampton and Manchester. The test matches are being played at Southampton and Manchester because these grounds have on-site hotels, where everyone stays. Even the TV commentators - when they are not on air, they simply go back to their rooms and watch the match on TV. But the bubbles for club sports - e.g. football and cricket - are not so drastic.

Which is why I said at the start - and still do - that declaring the season null and void was the logical thing to do. No promotion, no relegation. Prize money could be problematic - split it equally in a division, and teams at the top will moan, split it according to place (or points-per-game) at suspension, and teams at the bottom will moan. But nothing insurmountable. Qualification for Europe could have been based on position - that doesn't seem to have caused any problems. 14-10-10-10 is a reasonable alternative, but, as I suspected, once the Central Belt numpties find out where Brora actually is, they are not so keen.

I was simply thinking that as soon as they start playing, they will start losing (more) money, because of the inevitable expenses - travel, opening up the stadium even for closed door matches, and so on. With no income, a shorter season would mean losing less money, and could literally be the difference between survival and liquidation for some clubs.

Perhaps to contain losses at a level which will enable clubs to survive?

Aye - the main thing it tells us is that Rangers and Celtic should have been pushed out into a more competitive league a long time ago! That really does bring home how dominant they have been. Not good for the other clubs, and not good for them either. 35 years since another team last won the league

Yup, I thought about that, too. Thinking specifically of Annan, Elgin and Peterhead were in the league before Annan joined, so Annan just had to put up with it. But now the boot is on the other foot....

I know that Brora are up for it, but have any of the League Two clubs made noises about possibly having to travel so far north? The old thing about long treks north in winter. Annan to Brora is 300 miles.

Please buy some shorts as well, to ensure that your modesty is complete

Not going to happen this year - maybe not next season at all. No vaccination, no congregation. No immunity, no community. I think I'm getting the hang of this "government" thing. Snappy slogans 'r' us.

If we have any sense we will keep it in the bank, or use it to service our debt. Not the time to lash out on players - nor to fire (and compensate) one manager and hire another. Survival is the name of the game.

"It follows a top-flight club meeting on Friday at which key members including Rangers, Celtic and Aberdeen backed her call for the issue to be revisited." Money talks.

If there were any brains in Rangers and Celtic, they would have realised that now could be the time for the Atlantic League! They will be playing next season behind closed doors, or certainly much reduced crowds. (Smaller clubs might not be.) As will the big fish in the other small ponds. Would have attracted global interest and much more TV money for all involved. TV companies might even have been willing to tear up domestic contracts for next season in favour of the Atlantic League. And having them out of the way would leave the way open for domestic league reconstruction of the sort that most people would like to see. Of course there isn't time, and there are too many contractual and legal hurdles in the way. I don''t think the travel problems are insurmountable - after all, UEFA is still planning to have the Champions' and Europa Leagues. If only someone had started running with that idea a month or so ago...

I would have thought that these allegations are potentially libellous, or may lead to other legal action, so I'm uneasy about seeing them on this site. Note the confidentiality marking at the bottom of the page.

Why do they still say "ICT 25"?