HMRC’s case against St Mirren, raised because they allegedly failed to pay Kieran Doran the National Minimum Wage, has brought the professionalism of our professional game under analysis. Doran’s first contract as a 16-year-old was for £1 a week, which was apparently never paid. The player subsequently wanted to give up the game for a trade (to study medicine) but St Mirren refused to release him from his contract.
By any reasonable measure this is amateur football. There’s nothing wrong with amateur football, in fact it has great potential, but NOT paying someone £1 a week cannot be described in any other way. St Mirren will not be alone.
I made no comment last month on Newco’s reluctance to pay holiday pay as I thought this was something of an open secret. Holiday pay as been a legal right in the UK since 1871, but at the periphery of our game some clubs just don’t pay it. I’ve spoken to an SPL chairman who openly admitted to the ‘ruse’ (not Celtic, before you ask).
Newco are far from alone on this matter, indeed, I would be amazed if top flight clubs were not guilty. The keenness to contract players from July to May is substantial, I reckon lowering some clubs payroll by 8%, while leaving no time in the calendar for players to take paid holidays.
We should stop pretending there are two distinct groups of clubs in Scotland: the amateurs and semi-pros of the ‘non-leagues’, and the 42 Scottish Professional Football League clubs. St Mirren are one of the biggest and best community clubs we have, they have enormous potential to thrive as such, but I seriously doubt their credentials as an economically viable professional club.
More than 30 other Professional League clubs would also be better served trading with a Community League mentality. Developing the potential of local kids and engaging with their community, without the burden of trying to compete in a worldwide talent pool.
The majority of Scottish football clubs were founded in the 19th Century. It seems like no one has subsequently asked: what is our purpose, why are we here, what will our future look like? Without considerable change, the best future 30 clubs can hope for a decade from now will be suffocating indifference, at worst there will be lots of all-seated follies wasting away.
Reminder for tomorrow:
There are new season tickets issued, if your old ticket is still in your wallet, swap it out or you’ll not get in to see the Mighty Celtic tomorrow evening. If you don’t have your new ticket, better get along early to sort it out.
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Just another bog standard high 30s scorcher –way down south.
Today’s task is to harvest , wash , dry and box yellow plums .
Real good this year , big and juicy . . 90% will be sold , the rest will be scoffed now or made into jam for the winter .
Whammer of a tiger mosquito bite on my left elbow , swelling the size of an olive . Itchy as hell. Anti histamine cream has done zilch,anti histamine tablets have done zilch. Will get it into the sea this afternoon -that will do something .. The sea is a wonderful thing .
Then Le Tour and Celtic ..
Busy day -way down south.
SoT
Sounds like you’re onto plums with anti-histamines…
Gents, can anyone advise whether there are any bars in the Lake Garda area ( in particular near Bardolino) that may show the match tonight?
Richie.
I’ll be in the Blane Valley around 1/2 2-3.oo pm not going to drink much,want to see the game tonight,been up since 6am and been thinking about the game,that’s what I used to do 50 odd years ago, I must be having a second life.
SoT
Use a glue stick on the ole mossie bite…..thank me later :)
HH
I don’t know what all the fuss is about concerning the Mhari Black.
So what is she going to achieve?
Play more party politics? Aye definitely.
Spin some rhetorical ramblings that play to gullible punters? Aye probably.
Has anyone actually considered, beyond the claymore wielding shortbread nonsense, the politics of the SNP?
Try the Named Person Act Scotland for one.
If there was ever a left wing evil policy that has come onto the political landscape then it is this anti-family muck.
tonydonnelly67 .
Partick Thistle ?.
My son supports Partick Thistle -he ain’t no Hun..
One of the guys I went to Lisbon with in 67 chucked supporting Celtic in 69 and started going to Firhill. His reason ? ———-he refused to be part of that Old Firm thing and all that it entailed . .-he ain’t no Hun.
The Battered Bunnet
Indeed ! ——— cherries next up ,
lymmbhoy
Thanks —- there is one in a kitchen drawer — will give it a try now . Problem is klutz me will end up being stuck to a plum tree .. Will post a review later .
jamesgang 08:44 on 15 July, 2015
I know what you are saying. Labour should be in my blood but have lost that lovin feeling. Best PM I ever saw was Helen Clark. Farmers daughter genuinely wanted the best for everyone.
In summary……..was it a maiden or a midden speech?
;)
Well done to Damien Duff who has signed for Shamrock Rovers. He is donating all his wages to charity.
south of tunis
09:31 on 15 July, 2015
tonydonnelly67 .
Partick Thistle ?.
My son supports Partick Thistle -he ain’t no Hun..
One of the guys I went to Lisbon with in 67 chucked supporting Celtic in 69 and started going to Firhill. His reason ? ———-he refused to be part of that Old Firm thing and all that it entailed . .-he ain’t no Hun.
Don’t know your son or the so called Celtic fan who chucked supporting Celtic ( strange dude if you ask me) but I know what she said, and what team she mentioned, and that was my team, I worked with so called Thistle supporters during our nine in a row, trust me like Black, they where Huns.
TD67
Dont be so pig-headed . Mhairi Black is not a hun. She is a season ticketed PT supporter and she is a catholic.
Nothing like Lynsie Sharp who I agree is a bigotted hun.
The ole tiger mosquito is a vector of dengue fever [aka breakbone fever]; amongst other pestilences, but not the ole Rang#rsitis, so that is one bullet dodged.
ernie said:
“Black will say and do exactly what she’s told to say and do by her party bosses, no more and no less.
In that regard she’s like every other SNP politician.”
….and other politicians are different?
Suns oot looks like nice sunny day ahead, also beautiful night for the Tic to get scores on the doors tonight and make the away leg a formality.Glad to see the team back in real action. Got really fed up with tennis etc give me watching Celtic anytime, that tops any sport & gets the adrenalin flowing
———————————————————————————————-
A little about Mhairi Black well with all the praise being heaped on her after her excellent maiden speech in the House of Commons you would have thought he would be enjoying all the publicity she is receiving & wallowing in all the adulation
Well not quite so she was emailing me as we have been in correspondence over her paying a visit to a Recovery Cafe were I am the nominal Chairman were we help people in recovery from addiction to alcohol & drugs.
To be emailing me after her big day in the Commons & coming to our Recovery Cafe says it all for me about Mhairi Black she certainly has her feet on the ground that’s for sure. Last time I emailed my MP I got a reply from his secretary!
Funny thing about Mhari Black black is that the main focus of her campaign was that Alexander was a “career politician” and that she was on of ra peepul. What do you call somebody who studies politics at University and goes straight into front line politics? Is that not a “career politician”?
She is testament to the fact that an old jakey could have got elected against Labour because people are thick.
Now for five years of a tory majority.
BT
sad news about your friend, may he rest in peace, regarding the Tohg looking forward to our wee friendly chats again this season.
TonyD
The guy who has been sitting in front of me at Celtic Park has vouched for the claim that Mhairi Black is a Thistle fan. His sister and Mhairi are close friends. Mhairi`s `hate Celtic` was a throwaway remark . She is no different from supporters of many teams who dislike Celtic simply because we are by far the biggest Club in Scotland. She is certainly not a Hun and is as bigoted as Lynsey Sharp to the same extent she is as good an 800 m runner as Sharp!
Take my word on this one, Tony, she is not a Hun.
JJ
She is testament to the fact that an old jakey could have got elected against Labour because people are thick.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW!
`….sitting in front of me for eight years ` I meant to add!
Istanbulcelt
09:48 on
15 July, 2015
She is testament to the fact that an old jakey could have got elected against Labour because people are thick.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW!
____________________________________
Not as surprising as it sounds.
Democracy is the system of electing government by a group of fickle uneducated capricious self interested adults.
Jamesgang @ 08:44,
Good sound posting!
On the Japanese tsunami thing.
Remember a Japanese lady telling me at the time of her friend.
She was in a gym that had been converted to a makeshift dormitory the day of the disaster. Where some homeless where being fed and sheltered.
Towards the end of the day most were fed and bedded.
She turned to a lady beside her that had been cooking and serving food.
You’ve been working all day without a break or any food, it’s quiet now, why don’t you rest and eat?
The women replied, she wouldn’t, but as she had lost her husband and only son that morning she would take her leave and go home to mourn them.
Some wonderful, stoic people the Japanese.
Hoping for a good performance and result tonight…
2-0 Should suffice….
Hail Hail
Jungle Jim Hot Smoked
09:42 on 15 July, 2015
ernie said:
“Black will say and do exactly what she’s told to say and do by her party bosses, no more and no less.
In that regard she’s like every other SNP politician.”
….and other politicians are different?
####
All other mainstream political parties in the UK allow their elected representatives to criticise party policy and their party colleagues.
The SNP don’t.
Are you honestly saying you are not aware of this? Because if you really are that ignorant then your opinion on the matter is worth squat.
Democracy is the system of electing government by a group of fickle uneducated capricious self interested adults.
!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad i didn’t vote then….. :-)))
istanbulcelt
09:48 on 15 July, 2015
She is testament to the fact that an old jakey could have got elected against Labour because people are thick.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
——————————–
So what yer saying is, TD67 could have been duly elected? :-)
Well she said it through away or not, and me being she’s a midden, and a Hun, I don’t forgive easy when it comes to slagging off my team, but in my book she’s a Hun, the rest of you are entitled to what you think I have no problem with that, same as you can’t have one with me, .
She’s a Hun. PS guy that sits next to me at Celtic Park sais shes a Hun too, so there yi go!
Even if she doesn’t support Rangers, she thinks of us as scum. I think that’s the point rather than whether she attended Ibrox or not.
Every team in Scotland has these people supporting them.
ernie,
I am not sure what measure `squat` represents but I will assume it is negligible.
I took an interest in the political world when I was about fourteen. I was, I suppose, a Utopian Socialist and probably still am. The difference between then and now is that a younger JJ hoped it might happen. An older JJ knows it will not .
So, you are correct that my opinion is worth whatever the value of `squat` is.
I am surprised, though, that the SNP is the only party which does not allow criticism. Is that really true?
JJ
Morning all.
Not expecting a cricket score tonight, but I AM expecting a comfortable win.
4-0 would be quite acceptable.
That is my confident prediction!
HH!!
I’m guessin’ she bought the “history” of a Thistle Fan just in case political greatness was suddenly thrust upon her….
and she had to ditch her emerald leanings……………..
I mean look how well, supportin’ the oul’ Sellick worked out
for “Handsome” Jim Murphy!
This court moves to convict on all charges, you may take the midden down!
Next you’ll be telling me Barry Fergeshun isn’t a Hun because he coaches Clyde, and Mo Johnstone was mixed up he really was a great guy? Aye right.
South of Tunis
I got particularly dirty mozzy bites when on a golf trip to almeria and once in Tenerife, as you say anti histamines did not help or ammonia pens or steroid cream which is dispensed easily in Spain, what did work was anti fungal ointment and oral anti biotics as the infection was tracking from my hand up my arm, relief was quick.
As a prercaution to mozzies I take odourless garlic capsules daily all year round and touch wood it seems to keep them away.Good luck
lymmbhoy @ 9.28.
Glue stick / mosquito bite .
Applied it ————— unbearable itch disappeared after @ 15 minutes .. Thank you !!!!!!!!.
Now on a 3 line whip from Mrs S of T re keeping that elbow away from my eyes – ” I know what you are like ” .
Off oot to stick myself to a tree CSC -way down south.
BLANTYRETIM
Sincere condolences on the loss of your friend Vincent McBride.
Please convey my commiserations to his family.
Never mind the politics
It’s Cellllllllllllllllllltic time
https://vimeo.com/10234202
tonydonnelly67
I dont think there are many Catholic who are huns but having said that I did meet one . A guy from Govan who was a good wood-carver -cant remember the name. He was proud of the fact he was a Catholic as well as being a fully paid-up season ticketed hun.
Mhairi Black aint no hun.
Mhairi Black is a Catholic.
Mhairi Black future leader of Scotland.
Stjarnan FC
@FCStjarnan
Not sure how to describe our feelings ahead of our first @ChampionsLeague game ever. It is an honor to play that game against @celticfc