We will find out later today if the Scottish Government will cancel major events from Boxing Day. Under consideration are street parties, including Hogmanay celebrations, concerts and football games. Yesterday, the Welsh Government stumped up millions of pounds of public money to compensate for forcing major events behind closed doors from the same date.
As always, we should be led by the science. As usual, the politicians seldom are. Current infection rates in Scotland and Wales show no increase from recent months. Of the UK regions, only London has seen an uptick, dramatically so. Things may get worse, but the indicators are not there yet, either for infections, hospitalisations or worse.
In the second half of 2020 we saw the ridiculous consequences of playing games behind closed doors, with fans watching in crowded pubs and each other’s homes. Massive open-air, policed, stadiums were forgone for unsupervised indoor venues.
Scotland saw an uptick in infections when we gathered indoors to watch the Euros, there was no parallel impact from the return to open-air stadiums. “Follow the science,” tells us how dangerous unventilated spaces are compared to the open air.
The Welsh Government are not following science. They are spending money they did not raise because they feel the need to act.
Football fans in Scotland attend after showing a passport. This incentivised them to do the right thing, thousands of us signed up for the passport for only this purpose. The Scottish Government have other steps to mitigate risk, specifically inhibiting public transport, where the science is clear and understood.
What will the Scottish Government choose, unsupervised indoor gatherings, or well-policed open-air events? If only they were actually led by the science.
Other priorities today, but Sports Direct continued to ragdoll Newco in the courts yesterday, winning a judgement Castore sales figures should be revealed to them as part of their claim against the Ibrox club for failing to fulfil their rights to match a subsequent kit deal.
It is quite ironic that the commercial benefit from the splurge in tatty shirt sales following the Castore deal will be assessed by a court and due to be paid by the club to Sports Direct. Is it really that difficult to get this stuff right?
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timmy7_noted
Frightening – stay safe bhoys and Ghirls
Every hoops fan is precious.
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 21ST DECEMBER 2021 3:28 PM
‘Perhaps if the 500 tickets are allocated to the Green Brigade there might be a modicum of atmosphere .’
I think that is a great idea.
Bashi-Bazouks
`and try, very hard, to avoid getting married `
:-))))))))
GLENDALYSTONSILS on 21ST DECEMBER 2021 3:28 PM
That would be fantastic but no way on earth our board would let ordinary fans attend the game before them.
They are more deserving apparently.
The Scottish covid figures are published here –
https://data.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/detail.html#new_infections
You’ll see daily infections peaked far higher than current figures in mid-September, interesting the 7 day rolling average was higher when we played at ibrox than was recorded yesterday. That figure was at the peak (though there was no way to know it at the time) of a rapid rise in infections through Aug/Sept, although it never really made the news the way the current figures are for a number of reasons (eg. a variant of interest, plus the time of year).
What’s decided is done, best outcome now would be to bring forward the winter break. I believe we’ll have found the omicron variant isn’t as worrisome as we might have feared by mid-Jan, but I wouldn’t bet my national health service on it.
Incidentally omicron is the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, which makes this the 13th variant (nu and xi were skipped). I bet you thought it was the third.
500 of us are worth 5,000,000 of them
Didn’t take long….record time for this to become the board’s fault🤣😂🤣
Got to postpone.
We know now so much is possible after Covid. Like folk told for years banks can’t do payment holidays and put you straight into arrears if you miss a mortgage payment, turns out the don’t have to they just want to cripple folk.
Traditions can go. New Year game can happen in Feb. Sky still get their game. Fans at football is what makes it.
SFA and league I think weirdly will go with that call but Sevco will be gunning for empty stadiums, they play better without their support and every other team is disadvantaged.
Who is is blaming the board?
And more importantly what are they blaming them for?
Sounds like pish to me.
TIMMY7_NOTED on 21ST DECEMBER 2021 3:39 PM
Indeed. Entitlement is a hun – like trait but it is not just limited to huns! -))
Timmy7 thanks for clarification.
I’d like to see the board actively lobby for the shutdown to be brought forward, maybe they would earn some respect from the ordinary fans.
Ernie Lynch @ 3.22
😂👍
Paul’s article completely vindicated.
James Forrest, like a selection of others on here, are self-confessed SNPcult supporters – is that before they are Celtic supporters? – astonishing having to even mention this. There were some posting on an other forum in 2020 that they’d swap 10iar for independence “any day of the week”. I wonder if Mr Forrest & any on here were of that persuasion.
TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 21ST DECEMBER 2021 1:05 PM
JAMES FORREST
Complete and utter insanity. There is simply no hope for anyone talking such shite.
_______________________________________
Tom, Tom, Tom, I’ve never met you but I remember admiring your prose style in a letter to the then ‘Glasgow Herald’. The gist of it was that, as a youngster, you could have benefited from a Martin McGuiness/Gerry Adams type on the streets of Motherwell.
Since your return to this blog, I have noted a deterioration in style. I ascribe that to two factors: a slavish adherence to a particular party line; and a faecal obsession transmitted by fellow-travellers.
It’s never too late to repent, Tom. Happy Christmas.
BURNEY – Sure, vaccinations don’t stop the spread but they do significantly reduce the strain on the health Services as well as protect the weak – which is the point.
Sorry that we’ll miss the Hibs game now, was part of our (used to be) annual pilgrimage.
Them’s the breaks.
On vaccines – be glad you don’t live in a red state where about 50% of your neighbours voted for an orange baboon.
I’ve always viewed the vaccines as Darwinian but the worst part is that the unvaxxed are taking the rest of us and the economy, down with them – in the name of freedom (an pseudonym for selfish behaviour, overused in the US).
I acknowledge that vaccines won’t stop this thing – neither will the measures taken today but they will relieve the NHS and their employees.
There were no protocols with Bolingoli.Celtic did not know of his trip broad until it was too late.Trained with squad,and put all I danger.It was early days and there was panic at the new virus.
Football with fans:
2016-17 League Cup – Celtic winners ✅
2016-17 Premiership – Celtic winners ✅
2016-17 Scottish Cup – Celtic winners ✅
2017-18 League Cup – Celtic winners ✅
2017-18 Premiership – Celtic winners ✅
2017-18 Scottish Cup – Celtic winners ✅
2018-19 League Cup – Celtic winners ✅
2018-19 Premiership – Celtic winners ✅
2018-19 Scottish Cup – Celtic winners ✅
2019-20 League Cup – Celtic winners ✅
2019-20 Premiership – Celtic winners ✅
2019-20 Scottish Cup – Celtic winners ✅
without fans
2020-21 League Cup – St Johnstone ❌
2020-21 Premiership – Rangers ❌
2020-21 Scottish Cup – St Johnstone ❌
with fans again.
2021-22 league cup – Celtic winners ✅
Without fans again….
TBD…. or until the points gap is a chasm.
Not paranoid
The Onlooker
Bringing forward the winter break to start on 27 December makes sense… for all teams. I’m sure however sevco would welcome the opportunity to play Celtic at Parkhead on 02 January in front of no fans. For that reason I suspect the SPFL will ensure that happens.
Omicron is an anagram of Moronic
Dear James Forrest,
You could have saved yourself the bother of coming back to say that Paul’s article was “shameful”. It’s his take on things and it should be debated but also respected.
if there are 500 tickets for the game against thems then give the 500 to the green brigade.
JHB on 21st December 2021 3:49 pm
I suppose being a racist before a Celtic supporter is better?
You of course would prefer a never ending Tory UK government to 10 IAR, so you are, as ever, a hypocrite.
TexasTim
Nicely sums up peoples current dilema.
“You don’t get something for nothing
You can’t have freedom for free”
Sky sports scotland is full of liquidatiom denying staunch sevconians, unfortunately met some of them…….
https://www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/
quite excellent tracker.
in all of this, one of the rationals for the circuit breaker has been the number of care and nhs staff that are having to isolate having been in contact with an infected person.
so less about number of hospitalisations , and more abiut who is going to care for the people that are admitted (for all illness not just this).
Knew it wouldnt be long till the resident goon show starts throwing shite at the moon.
Could you have your wedding at Celtic Park and invite as many, to the ceremony, as you wish, as lifestyle events are exempt.
Yet only 500 can attend a football match there.
Is that the new guidance from Boxing day?
Rutherglen is an amagram of GlenErRuth
There were no protocols with Bolingoli.Celtic did not know of his trip broad until it was too late.Trained with squad,and put all I danger.It was early days and there was panic at the new virus.
—
Incorrect.
There were measures in place covering training, meals and travelling to mitigate against the risk of transmission within our squad.
Racism is often based on stereo typing.
Racism is wrong in every way.
Calls of it coming from those who have stereo typed 52% of the entire population of Scotland for 7 years might want to consider their claims of hypocricy though.
Measures that were agreed beforehand with government in order to facilitate football returning.
SAINT STIVS on 21ST DECEMBER 2021 4:02 PM
Rutherglen is an amagram of GlenErRuth
Did you know that Saint Stivs is an anagram of ssisittav?
;o)
Racism is about hate, stereo typing and scapegoating drives hate.
Micro on
No Covid capacity limits or social distancing requirements on public transport.
No suggestion, according to BBC, that they will be reintroduced.
Yet only 500 allowed in a 60,000 stadium.
Visits ants
TIMMY7_NOTED on 21ST DECEMBER 2021 4:10 PM
Racism is about hate, stereo typing and scapegoating drives hate.
——–
Great! pleased the stereo typing is going to stop 😁
Saint Stivs
Site is interesting but there are 40 people in ICU in one hospital
This says 37 in total – just not correct.
Your point about NHS staff is welcomed and most often missed
Good on you.