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Wg
Just for YOu
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First 1st?
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Boo!
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Happy Birthday WG
Celtic will give you their present on Sunday.
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McGeady
Have you not won enough this week?
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I don't often indulge myself in a rant and I know this is not related to pitch and putt, but it took me ages to type so from the last thread.....
Rangers will play more games this season than others. They knew at the start of the season which competitions they would compete in (or drop into for not being good enough in a bigger one)and, leaving aside replays, they knew the potential number of games they could play in all competitions. They knew when the season was scheduled to end so why haven't they planned properly?
As has been shown on here, Celtic have been in this situation on several occasions .. Leeds Utd also in one of those years. It is clearly not viewed by any football association as unfair that one team has to play more games than others in a season(and therefore some in a shorter timeframe) otherwise extensions to the season would be a regular occurrence to deal with that unfairness.
There is absolutely no justification for an extension to the season. The argument that there is some sort of duty to help them in their quest for European glory is ridiculous. The SPL's duty first and foremost is to the domestic game and to the leagues members. Even if we believe that the extension is only to help Rangers in Europe and not domestically (Aye right! Aye Ready more like), that should still take second place to the domestic game. 5 other teams in the top 6 are potentially disadvantaged by this and St Mirren will be inconvenienced (probably financially hurt also). It is an absolute disgrace that this issue has got this far and will be an absolute travesty if the plot (because that's what it is) comes to fruition.
In the event that we drop points on Sunday, such that an announcement is made that there will be no extension, it (the announcement) will be treated by us and others with the contempt it deserves. For the (limited) integrity of the SPL, they have to announce now that there will be no extension.
John
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To keep the Universe in Cosmic, Karmic Balance ie for every good thing that happens there has to be a bad; for every clever thing that happens something equally stupid must occur then there is also an antithesis to the CQN Golf Day and Dinner- the Follow, Follow Golf Day, where presumably the winner is not presented with a Green Jacket..
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from previous thread.
As I said earlier, Celtic should take the SPL & SFA to court over this if our objections are ignored.
We would win any court case as prescedences have been set, not only would TFOD be banned from european competition but the national team would be banned from all competition (is this correct) whilst a legal dispute lasts.
Its time to play hardball with the best little bigoted country in the world. I they wont evolve then we should be forcing them screaming and kicking into the 21st century
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Paul67:
What’s the Hampden if you cannot attend but would still like to donate?
Separate issue altogether:
How grand it is to see - the blog - to a man - getting behind the club.
Towels are being nonchalantly retrieved as though carelessly dropped.
Speaks Volumes.(in the best of ways)
Still Champions. Always Standing
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Happy birthday WG.
Just got back from Florida holiday on Saturday so doing a bit of catch up.
Missed first half hour of game on Saturday due to combination of flight delays and incompetent ground staff at glasgow airport who took 40 minutes to get the walkway lined up with the aircraft door.
Anyway regarding Aberdeens disallowed goal. From where i sat (North Lower 106) it was a stone wall handball, I'd have bet the house on it. The ref was virtually in my line of sight. Since then I've seen it on telly and it is obvious there was no handball. So althought the ref got it wrong from where I was sitting and his line of site it looked a defo handball. Can't quite explain it myself now I've see the footage, but there you go its all about perpectives.
Of to catch up on 2 weeks of CQN, don't tell my boss
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Prepare to be angry:
"From the angle I had adopted, I observed the Aberdeen player Diamond jump to meet the ball and I believed he used his hand to aid the ball's flight beyond him," the referee explained.
"Immediately I blew my whistle awarding a free-kick to Celtic.
"The majority of players reacted to the whistle by stopping - the exception being Diamond who placed the ball into the Celtic goal.
"On reflection and having had the opportunity to view the incident via television, I fully accept that I called this incident completely wrong.
"Having adopted the position I did, it didn't allow me to gain the best view of what happened during the incident. It is clear that the goal should not have been disallowed."
This is a referee who has just admitted that the whistle was blown BEFORE the ball was struck and the shot was taken AFTER the players had stopped playing still saying the "goal should not have been disallowed"!
Does this man have any inkling of how far he has thrown the rule book out of the window here?
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sorry paul, i can't make your golf day as i will be sunning myself in Orlando. oops i am beginning to sound like the guys i complain about who talk about other subjects apart from football. like first past the post. i will end this with aquestion. I listened to an advertisment on Radio Clyde last night for the phone in at a casino in Glasgow, i am sure they done one in a Club/Pub before. Does this make Hugh Keevins on a PAR (GOLF PUN) with Kenny Dalglish?
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one decision for us = 100 for them.
helmetsonforsundaycsc
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Aberdeens goal would've been purely academic had the ref allowed the other perfectly good goal to stand.
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He didn't' call it wrong' -he genuinely thinks there was a nandball and blows his whistle[correctly]
To call it wrong would be to see a foul and not blow up.
The referees decision is final- that must be the first thing they learn at ref school- not that the referee's decision might subsequently be shown on TV to be wrong.
TV may subsequently reveal there was no handball but until such time as TV makes these decisions then we have to rely on the referees eyesight, judgement and common sense.
Luckily in the SPL we have the finest referees in the Galaxy[ I'm assuming that Freeland is an alien]
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With Ian Brines publicly stating that he prevented us losing 2 points, is this his way of telling his fellow colleagues that they must now make amends for this decision ?
It's strange how someone like Brines will admit to making a mistake that benefits us but Kenny Clark doesn't come out when he made some strange decisions that never went our way.
Am i paranoid ? No... i just know that lot don't want us to succeed.
Hail Hail
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One Star,
Isn't it refreshing to see a referee admit a mistake. If only they were all so honest!
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Before I start, Happy Birthday WG
Has the ref come out to mention the Sammy "Goal"????
Didn't think so...
Another quick one on Radio on Saturday and I apologise if this has been mentioned.
The "Off the Ball" programme on Radio Scotland on Saturday had Stuart Dougall and Des Clarke (Not sure at all if that's his right name, working from memory here!) a Stand Up comedian who is a Celtic fan, on the show as their guests.
Classic comment of the day when giving off to Stuart Dougal with regards to his swearing at a player
"Now Stuart, enough of that. We all know that refs are supposed to be fine upstanding members of our presbyterian community"
Must say, I wasn't aware that this was a pre-requisite to being MIB but certainly helps explain some things!!!!
Mucker
Sorry, not a golfer
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Does Brines comment on two other goals Samaras scored on Saturday?
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It's interesting how much media attention is devoted to refereeing incidents which allegedly favour Celtic, compared with all the incidents which either go against Celtic or for the huns.
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Abmucker,
Des Clarke is a former stand up comedian and TV presenter. Up until very recently he presented the Daily huddle on Celtic TV and is still seen interviewing some legendary celtic players.
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Thanks for the info Mort. I will keep an eye out for him.
He didn't seem a bad lad at all!
The comment I referenced cam from Stuart Cosgrove.
Sorry for not making that clear!
Mucker,
Who should read back his posts.
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AbMucker/Mort:
Wee bit of Des Clarke with the very funny Raymond Mearns in a Youtube classic.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8W75aYW-J_o
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HAHAHA!!!!!!!
Absolutley magic
Thanks for that lhads, I'm now educated!!
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DBBIA, are you saying therefore that Freeland is the best referee in Scotland but that he is from another galaxy?
Even if your assumption is right (that he is an alien) it does not necessarily preclude him from being of this galaxy since I would suggest that the geographical qualifications for alienship does include locations within our galaxy. US tax law. for example, regards (and indeed calls) everybody who is not a US citizen an alien. This of course means that, in their eyes, a cultured, intelligent though slightly fixated (Carla!)person such as yourself is more of an alien than a banjo playing in-bred from the Ozarks.
Being pedantic is so much more fun than being a spelling monitor
Lifeonmarscsc
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Some cracking lines on here today.
Stoir:
1Towels are being nonchalantly retrieved as though casually dropped1.Beautiful.Captures the air of "Moi? No, I never really gave up!"
Then Cadizzy:
"...is more of an alien than a banjo playig in-bred from the Ozarks." Top class.
Paradise Found:
I.too, was in North Stand 106 and also saw it as a clear handball. Was very surprised to see that it, in fact , was not.Has anyone a link to Samaras` two `goals`?
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Rangers get the season extended if they reach final.
THAT'S WHY WE ARE PARANID!!
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Surprise, surprise!
Season to be extended till 22 May should Rangers make the UEFA Cup Final.
Don't remember us being extended this luxury in 2003 - as usual, one rule for rangers and another for the rest.
OUtrageous!
Info taken from Sky Sports news.
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Rangers get the season extended if they reach final.
THAT'S WHY WE ARE PARANOID!!
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First off.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY winningemell,have a good day.
When the sun is shining,Aberdour Golf Club,must be one of the nicest in the Country.
I bought a set of clubs just to join in the craic on the Golf Course,but in hindsight i'll just enjoy the craic at tee-off.
Looking forward to my wee drink with Martin and Paul,and whoever cares to join us,while the golfers trek round the course,swearing at bad shots, and perhaps ploughing up the fairway,the non-golfers among us will getting in some practice for the nights proceedings.
Yes,I'm looking forward to the day.
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according to the beeb it will be extended until 22nd May if they reach the UEFA CUP Final.
I assume the SPL believe like I do that they have Bob Hope of that
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As someone who once paid good money to see the Ozark Mountain Daredevils at the [much missed] Apollo all I'll say is that a little bit of banjo goes a long way..
Anyways, The Internet as you know is vast and can be baffling to outsiders so I think we should try and make our particular niche unique- say someone googles 'Football blogs' and wants to make sure he hasn't ended up at say, 'Foxtrot,foxtrot'- clues could be in posts on American tax law as it applies to extra-terrestrials, and 21 st century French Political Personalities.
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Surely the teams all have to play on the same day if its the end of the season. What is the bottom half of the league going to finish before the top half.
Have UEFA sanctioned this or is it out of their jurisdiction?
Are these games now going to be played on a Thursday evening
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Aberdeen v Rangers, 13:30
Dundee Utd v Celtic, 13:30
Hibernian v Motherwell, 13:30
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Sunday's referee gets in some extra practice
Good news is that it's his cousin,who's really his brother, who's really his sister, who's really his mother- that's running the line..
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http://www.scotprem.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ContactUs/0,,10002,00.html
We have a corrupt league. The games integrity has been brought into question. If i was Celtic i would consider withdrawing from this years competition and complain to FIFA.
At the end of the day this scenario has been brought about due to the unecessary call off from the Gretna game. There was no need for such a game to be called off.
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bbc story on extension
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tictalk, I hope the journey back to sunkissed Arbroath was not too arduous.
Being in the Jock Stein, I could not see whether it was a handball but it was clear that the whistle had gone,and players had stopped, before Diamond shot. To echo DBBIA, the referee's decision is the only one that matters and so it is the right one. We cannot say for certain that one of our defenders would have tackled Zander Diamond or blocked the shot but he certainly had more time and space to shoot making the task of putting it in the net much easier.
John
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wgs
its got nothing to do with Gretna is all the weather's fault
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why did scotsport fail to cover the samaras disallowed goal but dwell on the aberdeen disallowe goal.
no centre ground no balance as usual
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Re the referee - everyone stopped except Diamond who kicked the ball away. Is that not a booking?
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I knew the SPL would pander to the cardigan in the end. Absolutely scandalous. Hopefully it will work out similar to the Gretna / 3 nil humping by Lyon!!
Anybody know where I'll get the game on sunday in Cape Town? The wife's forcing me on holiday at the worst time ever but at least I'll be back to see us win 3 in a row. I've had a look on celticbars.com and there's nothing on there. Any help greatly appreciated.
Hail Hail
DTMIRN
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new article posted.
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Lhads,
With all this talk of banjo playing in-breds I thought I'd look up the origins of the word "hillbilly", and guess what little delights I found...HillBilly?
Don't ya just love wikipedia?
Hail Hail
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Absolute shame on them! This is a disgraceful decision. Ian Blair states "It is clear that future requests for changes to our scheduled fixture list will have to be compelling before approval is given" Future requests is right since there was no compelling reason this time. Oh I forgot, nobody made a request this time. I couldn't find the schedule for when they don't get to the UEFA final.
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Paul or anyone in the know,
Would all SPL clubs not have to have given permission for this to proceed?
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well well well......
So the true colours are flying high above SPL now.
I dearly hope Celtic challenge this and invoke any means possible to question why 1 teams fixture congestion has a knock on effect for the rest of the league. I believe this sets out a real marker for us.
Rangers could easily have played more reserve players in cup games......or withdrawn from a tournament if it was so worrying in terms of fixture build up and made a choice as to what is paramount to them as a club to try and win.
I agree with everyone who's said it......this stinks to high heavens and is nothing short of a scandal.
If ever the HOOPS team need an incentive to rub their noses in it....then this is it!
Sad scottish football has finally dropped to this lowly level of kissing Murrays bahoochy in public.
A disgrace!! The seasons parameters are set before a ball is kicked ......what next let them replay games from last season to ALLOW them to 'reclaim' leagues they lost!!
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The decision to extend the season is scandalous frankly.
Rangers asked to have the Gretna game postponed suit them;
Rangers failed to put teams away in the cup competitions resulting in draws and replays;
Rangers chose to continue to compete in four competitions in the full knowledge that doing so would stretch their resources -- they could have , if they chose to , sacrficed one of those competitions , as , eg Bolton did.
Does anyone seriously believe this would have even been considered let alone allowed for anyone else?
The statement from Iain Blair does not reveal whether Rangers requested the extension or whether the SPL simply unilaterally granted it.
My money is on the latter, otherwise , had a request been made , it seems to me that the SPL would have been duty bound to consult with its other members before the decision was made.
One way or another well never know the real truth unless we force the issue -- so much for transparency.
If we do force the issue well be vilified as being petty and insular.
If the "fixturing" this year has been so appallingly difficult as to produce "unparalleled scheduling problems" why is it that only one team is affected and the postponement is only dependent on Rangers participation in Europe.
If it was as bad as is being made out a postponement would be necessary for other teams and no matter what.
Whichever way you look at it the possible postponement arises only because of Rangers ongoing participation in Europe.
Scandalous.
TLWIO
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I think it's a disgraceful decision but I also think it may work against Rangers in the long run.
Without Barry Ferguson, Rangers were unable to beat Partick Thistle or St Johnstone in 90 minutes of football. With Ferguson and Thomson missing from the midfield there will be even more waves of Fiorentina attacks at the Rangers defence and even less respite from them, something Ferguson does well in knowing how to alleviate pressure by bringing play up the field.
I have said all along that I expect Fiorentina to win at Ibrox - I am also convinced that Rangers are in for a uniquely exhausting experience - tired legs, carrying injuries, probable incessant pressure, possibly very physical, and highly emotional.
Added to that, they have this notion that they are now playing for a few days rest as well as a final. In any walk of life, that can sap your energy more than anything else.
Anyone not know the feeling of finishing work at the same time every day with no problem but then circumstances hint that you might get away a couple of hours early? Or something might close your workplace and you might get an extra day off? How does it feel when that doesn't pan out? If you're anything like me, that knocks the wind out of your sails for no good reason other than the introduction of a different psychological focus.
On Thursday Rangers play their first European final in decades with confidence that must be rock bottom. Even after winning on Sunday they just trudged off the park like a team that had just LOST a semi-final.
Ultimately, I think this will do them as much harm as good.
However, that doesn't change the fact that the decision is utterly wrong and ignores the interests of everyone outside of Rangers.
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One more point - even if Rangers DID make the final, they will face some seriously angry St Mirren players (and I wouldn't have put bad money on Gus MacPherson putting out a strong side against them).
And if they did get to Manchester and lost, would they seriously be expected to bounce back and just win all their games? If they made the final would all their players be totally committed in SPL games een if it meant being crocked or knackered for the final?
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