When spread of Covid in the UK was at its peak in March, two days before Celtic were due to play in front of 50,000 at Ibrox, the SFA took a decision that should have come from Government – football at all levels would stop until they knew how to resume, without endangering the health of players and spectators.
During this period, government ministers and their public health advisors were still happy to send untested patients from hospitals with Covid infections to care homes, pubs and clubs were open, and trains were packed with commuters. These were fatal errors, literally fatal. When the next history of the SFA is written, the Association should get enormous credit that they took the painful steps necessary while governments in both Edinburgh and London froze.
Indoor social and entertainment venues, like pubs, are again open. Outdoor venues, like football stadiums, with their easy to enforce social distancing measures and far lower risk of virus infection, remain closed. The same government ministers who were caught in the headlights in March, again appear incapable of acting in a coherent and evidence-led manner.
Opening pubs while keeping football stadiums closed has nothing to do with public health. No evidence is offered to support this position because none exists. It is a random and incongruous act from a government that knows it sat on its hands while football took painful but responsible steps in March, and which has transformed its stadiums in the subsequent months to make them fully compliant with government safety advice.
Only the Holyrood cabal know why they allow you to watch football at an indoor pub but not an outdoor stadium. It is a terrible policy and shows that their Covid public health strategy remains an evidence-free lottery.
I can’t help but think we are in this mess because Boris Johnson is a disaster of a human being and Nicola Sturgeon’s personal best interests are served if she adopts close to, but not exactly the same as, his policies.
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I couldnae access a refund for the last 4 games.
Shocking behaviour.
Days Numbered.
Mike Bennett is no fool. Facts are Basement Jax.
Nevertheless come on ye Bhoys in Green.
Totally *fd off with the new politico speak..’ laser focused ‘,this year’s ‘robust’….
x
The thing is you could probably have got more fans, including social distancing, on the old Celtic Park terraces than you will in the all seated version.
That’s progress for you
G-Thang – Time is Time.
Me and you playing the first to 18 at Reardens.
If you win quickly, we will do a best of 5, if that goes quickly first to 3.
Thank You Garry. Powerful minded Man.
Thank You Brother in Rhthym.
BADA BING Could you be more Specific about the 12K position please .
FRITZSONG on 20TH JULY 2020 8:18 PM
SAINT STIVS on 20TH JULY 2020 6:50 PM
Teatime, pouring down after the wee team had played a few seasons ago, my brother and I were standing in that shelter for the McGill’s service back across the Erskine Bridge. Raised my arm to the driver when the bus approached, no reaction it carried on straight through the lights and away in the distance.
An old man making his way on the pavement told me, the bus won’t stop if you’re in the shelter son (even then we were both in our fifties). You have to stand at the stop.
For an hourly service, that only happens to a person once.
Timbhoy2- the Club priced up,Lennoxtown and CP for a home game at 12k in the same week,,this was deep cleaning, sanitizer and staff to carry it out ,this was about 8 -10 weeks ago I was told ,so the Club have been on the case for a while.
Ok BADABING Thanks for reply.
Interesting that Brian Wilson our non exec board member is known for writing outlandish articles in the Herald criticising the Scottish government. Todays article by Paul would not have looked out of place in Mr Wilson’s collection. One wonders where Peter Lawwell got the idea to put out a statement last week lobbying the Scottish Government. Anyway, below is an interesting letter to the Herald about Mr Wilson in 1997.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12322722.brian-wilson-the-british-nationalist/
Ps. some of you may have seen Once Upon A Time in Iraq, on BBC 1 – the horrors of what happened in that country after the US invasion in 2003 are harrowing and should be known by anyone who’s serious about imperialism, racism and the human hell of war.
Mr Brian Wilson consistently voted for the Iraq war.
GUYFAWKESAFOREVERHERO on 20TH JULY 2020 10:15 PM
the driver was an arsehole.
pull in,
Just caught up on things,
Is it not great that that new club operating out of ibrox is so anti racist.
the onion bears will do an ANTIFA display soon.
DAVID17 on 20TH JULY 2020 11:20 PM
I followed Brian Wilson career growing up, aligned with his politics then, believed he was a force for good,
Sat behind him on a flight from glasgow to manchester , and he told bobo and kennedy to claim their receipts for coffee and water.
write all the books you want.
by your deeds you will be known.
there was a generation of scottish labour politicians who lost their way.
where is that Murphy fellow today ?
Just a private view.
I would be content if season was spectator free til Christmas.As a professional sport testing regimes must be adhered to.The guidance and coding for this should be made clear for each team so that if someone comes down with covid then strict laws are in place ‘re isolation and recovery of that individual
and the interactions with their team,quarantine etc.there is still a lot to work on a get used to.i hope we are ready as an 11 for Hamilton.
I am trying to separate the fans from the game,for one reason,we are subject to a virus which as I speak we have no vaccine for
.we carry that virus.
any form of social gathering is a risk.goin to a match is madness.
We know Scottish football and us in particular
are reliant on match day income more than most but give it a rest with the pressure to get the crowds in,I don’t want an Atalanta v Valencia type death spike occurring on Celtic fans (any fan)if we don’t take a slow steady approach.
It is interesting our lack of signings.😊
HH
Brian Wilson was a force for good. From his days with the West Highland Free Press he did more to campaign for Land Reform in Scotland than any SNP member has since done. He has also done great work for the Downs Syndrome Association. He has also written a great book about Celtic
That has to be put in the balance against his falling for the WMD lie in backing Blair’s illegal war in Iraq, which is a terrible black mark to carry when Robin Cook showed him how he should respond.
The letter, provided by David17, from Donald Anderson in the Herald should not be taken seriously as condemnation, however.
Here is an example of Mr. Anderson’s world view from 3 years ago. Judge him by his friends:-
“A leading member of a Scottish ultra-nationalist group clashed with members of an Irish Republican flute band at a rally to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, a court has heard.
Bruce Ogilvie, an office bearer of Siol nan Gaidheal, or “Seed of the Gaels”, once pictured with Alex Salmond, was “angry” that the Irish band had turned up at the 2017 rally at the National Trust for Scotland’s Battle of Bannockburn Visitor Centre, Stirling Justice of the Peace Court was told.
Ogilvie, 57, who was linked to the extreme anti-English group Settler Watch in the 1990s, was alleged to have shouted “Fenian bastards” at the band amid ugly scenes.
The court heard “nasty words” were said on both sides, and the family atmosphere of the rally, attended by hundreds of adults and children, initially began to sour when a group of Spaniards took exception to the Catalan flag being flown.
Donald Anderson, leader of the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement, which organises the annual rally on the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of Robert the Bruce’s 1314 victory, said there had been “the usual march” from the town to the Heritage Centre.
He told the court: “I was the organiser and MC at the microphone.
“There was a band from Coatbridge called the United Irishmen Republican Flute Band.
“My friend Bruce Ogilvie was with me. He wasn’t pleased about the Irish band being present. He was angry and upset. He was shouting things at the band. A few shouted back.
“The bandmaster had to restrain the band members. They all wanted to fight with Bruce – it got to that stage.
“I had to explain to Bruce there were Irishmen at Culloden and he was calmed down.
“Then the rally finished and we all marched off to the pub.”
Cross-examined, Mr Anderson, 82, said there had been “a noise of shouting and swearing, but no fisticuffs”.
Paul Lee, a former soldier monitoring the rally with a bodycam and two-way radio, said Ogilvie had been called “an Orange bastard” by someone present.
Mr Lee, 54, said: “The atmosphere was friendly, with young and old people and weans, but it changed.
“There were a load of Spaniards who were kicking up about a Catalan flag and that was what actually kicked it off.
“I stepped in to split it up.
“It really got out of hand. There were nasty words said from both sides.”
Mr Lee, from Falkirk, agreed with prosecutor Ashley Smith that when police phoned him up a few weeks after the incident – which occurred on June 10th 2017 – he had stated that Ogilvie, who was wearing a black top with “Gaelic symbols on it”, had “attended with some stragglers, one carrying a Scottish flag” and stood near a contingent from the William Wallace Society.
He told the police officer: “Bruce Ogilvie started shouting at the Irish flute band.”
But he agreed with solicitor Norman Fraser, for Ogilvie, that it had simply been a telephone conversation – he had not gone to the police station and had neither made nor signed a formal statement. He said he had memory problems and could not recall exactly what he had told the officer.
Ogilvie, of Montrose, denied threatening and abusive behaviour, shouting and swearing, and uttering sectarian remarks.
Submitting no case to answer, Mr Fraser said that “anti-Irish, anti-Catholic” slogans were “alien” to Ogilvie.
He said: “They are not expressions he has used.”
Justice of the Peace Dr Vicki Nash upheld the submission.
She said the police statement was insufficiently corroborated and found Ogilvie – who therefore had no opportunity to give evidence himself – not guilty.
Siol nan Gaidheal was formed in 1978. It does not classify itself as a political party and claims the “fostering of Scottish ethnicity as the bedrock of Scottish nationality should in turn form the basis for Scottish citizenship”. Members were officially banned from the SNP in 1982 by then party leader Gordon Wilson, who described it as “proto-fascist”.
However, Mr Ogilvie appears to have been involved in the SNP until much later. He was active in its Bannockburn branch in 2005 and was pictured with Alex Salmond, then First Minister, and local SNP election candidates in 2009.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 20TH JULY 2020 11:48 PM
Brian Wilson was a force for good. From his days with the West Highland Free Press he did more to campaign for Land Reform in Scotland than any SNP member has since done. He has also done great work for the Downs Syndrome Association. He has also written a great book about Celtic
That has to be put in the balance against his falling for the WMD lie in backing Blair’s illegal war in Iraq, which is a terrible black mark to carry when Robin Cook showed him how he should respond.
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His good work on all those previous things, all good.
His family challenges , all tough, and considered.
The book(s) were good, but now when I refer to them think, you wrote this, and then said these things today.
Overall, I dont think the man wakes up in the morning and thinks , whats the family doing , and then what is the celtic result ?
Not for me.
An Tearman
A slow and steady approach is exactly what is being asked for.
As for “any form of social gathering is a risk.goin to a match is madness.”, I believe you joined a good crowd of men in a pub recently and took that risk. I was in a busy Garden Centre tea room today for my sins, and I took that risk too. Our restaurant at CP is open for bookings and people will be within our ground for the mmatch with social distancing.
I understand why crowds are being prevented from gathering but why is no-one being allowed to attend in any of the near 60k seats at CP?
Watched ITVs European Cup winners again, just in case I had missed part of it last Thursday was it?
ITV devoted a full three minutes to the first Scottish, British if you like, Non-Latin club even to win the European Cup. Only four other clubs had won it.
St. Stiv’s
No problem with a considered dislike of the man.
I just ask for judgement in the round. He was more than just an Iraq war dupe. And, even there, we are all in some ways tainted by the decisions our leaders took then. I well know the damage that was done.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 21ST JULY 2020 12:00 AM
St. Stiv’s
No problem with a considered dislike of the man.
———————
Appreciated.
Beyond Celtic, does the fella ever come out and commemt on anything happening in his local Scotland ?
Inside Celtic, did he comment on Res 12 ? 5 way agreement ? Rangers supporters being sectrainn and racist >
Nope,
Like Murphy, stood and listened to the worst bile at a league cup final and said the square root of .,…
Not exactly Connelly types
pHONE MISPELLS excuse my Tilpoes.
ha.
Celtic MAC, I’m surprised that ITV programme even mentioned us.
They did a 50 greatest champions league goals compilation programme a few years after we beat Man U. Naka’s free kick wasn’t in the 50 goals.
When Real beat Atletico in the Champions League final played in Lisbon a couple of years ago, Clive Tyldsley nor any of his colleagues mentioned we were the first club from these shores to win the European , winning it in Lisbon.
I shouldn’t let things like this bother me but ITV especially Tyldsley really grate with what comes across as wilful ignorance of anything we have done in Europe.
Auldheid
I’m two thirds through Fergus McCann v David Murray by Stephen O Donnell to be published on the 27th this month and it is working well on 3 levels so far.
As a memory jogger, an information gap filler and a wonder at how the feck did Murray get away with it although when you hear Traynor and Keevins getting a mention you know how and it is still going on. The three monkeys approach to what passes as sports journalism in Scotland.
I liked this bit because whatever anyone thinks of McCann as savior or profiteer it tells us he “got” Celtic. I wonder if he still does given The CST are working on gathering in shareholder details.
” Matters came to a head at another momentous EGM, this
time held on 26 November 1993, when Fergus McCann and
his allies effectively went all in to try to persuade the besieged
directors, still stubbornly bound together by their notorious
voting pact, to accept the offer of fresh investment that was on
the table and allow a rights issue to broaden the ownership of the
club.
Aware that his plans would need the approval of at least
some of the sitting directors, McCann told the meeting, ‘I do
not think this club was ever intended to be a family business. It
was started to improve the lot of poor families in the East End
of Glasgow,’ an assertion that was greeted with warm applause
from the floor. ‘The people who are demonstrating outside …
are not a rabble agitated by individuals,’ McCann continued.
‘They are people who feel a great deal for the club. They want
to see the club move ahead … On the field, as everyone knows,
no success is guaranteed because of money only. However, I
can guarantee you one thing: in professional team sports at the
level that Celtic are expected to play at, with no money you are
guaranteed no success.”
Dallas Dallas
Absolutely. Thankfully BBC Scotland did their own tribute to the Lions.
Shown again recently. Brilliant television.
When it comes to transfer activity you would be better listening to anyone outside neil lennon, he talks a lot but tells you Jack. At the very least we need a gk and centreback.
All the other areas are covered albeit that I would also like a left back too. Have no problem with the younger players adding more depth and being asked to step up guys like dembele, henderson, connor, robertson, welsh etc. all having the potential.
I also hope we are actively looking to move on players like ralston, boli, shved etc. who are not up to it. One of my biggest annoyances is the supersize squad of 30 plus players, half of whom play about 30 games combined a season.
HH
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 20TH JULY 2020 11:57 PM
An Tearmann
A slow and steady approach is exactly what is being asked for.
==> hmmmm I dunno is it I just feel the general pressure to restart is more business based wi big smiley(masks) let’s return to normal….but that has changed.normal has changed and we are in the process of moving to a new normal,Well until a complete vaccine is found.ps when I say business I mean Wetherspoons etc,corporate sector etcalways great meetin Tims T 😊,they tho will verify my ninja like speed,A wave to ed,A tap on David and bj shooderz and a handshake from brrb followed by some rinse from David.lol your right.i was content with my distancing etc but was the pubs with me lol <==
I was in a busy Garden Centre tea room today for my sins, and I took that risk too. Our restaurant at CP is open for bookings and people will be within our ground for the mmatch with social distancing.
I understand why crowds are being prevented from gathering but why is no-one being allowed to attend in any of the near 60k seats at CP?
==But it's still a lot of people to be coming from and going to their own communities.and that's how we can find R going geometric again.
I am missing Celtic badly as going is my fix.but say even 6000 in Cp- who would be to blame if a spike occurred after a game.
Soz for late reply keep safe T sumdi came In
HH
Auldheid
Enjoying your reviews on Stephens latest book.Tho I dunno bout Fergus/shamed knight comparison
Fergus had money he didn’t
The Fergus mc Cann letter to the old board is beautiful
Hope you and yours are safe 😊
HH
Anger is an Energy.
You alright?
This World isnae of us.
Wow what a Way to Go.
HERE WE, HEAR we, get Ready to Go.
Jesus Christ is with you when 2 are Together believing.
I know Love is the Law. Love is the Fundamental Law ….
2 Randoms Praising our Lord and Saviour Ohmega.
Mike B ta.
Futurequake.csc
I remember the Cathy interview well. Very well in fact.
Love is the Dave.
The new Rangers are very strong. 50/50 now.
Come on ye Bhoys in Green. You can do it.
Forgive Always.
Yeshua is the Man.
PAPAJOE55 on 20TH JULY 2020 8:53 PM
No news to report on the possibility on Joe Hart or Fraser Forster.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
LENNYBHOY
Much appreciated we can only hope the right deal comes . My mates cousins are long time city fans from the days of Bell and Lee and Summerbee, not the modern glory hunter and have been to many Celtic games with us. Thanks for the response.HH
https://videocelts.com/2020/07/blogs/latest-news/international-fixtures-force-sfa-into-planning-scottish-cup-semis-and-final-for-december/
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Stop Internationals fixtures now ! :O)