You will note the most right-winged, left-wing government in history was yesterday resisting attempts to repeal the Offensive Behaviour Act. The Act was sheer populist electioneering by Alex Salmond, who decided after watching several Rangers players dismissed at the end of a game at Celtic Park that something should be done about the 60,000 spectators who attended the game, and its aftermath, left the stadium in an orderly manner.
Football was well covered by policing and the existing legal framework, but Christine Graham MSP hoped to “equalise” non-criminal behaviour at football, specifically by Celtic fans, with criminal behaviour. It was the most uber-right-winged, thought-police, actual-police-backed policy on these shores in decades. Political capital was poured into policing this law, as was significant financial capital.
All other political parties in the Scottish Parliament oppose the Act, due to its fundamental flaws, so on the face of it, yesterday’s initiative by James Kelly MSP, to repeal the Act has a chance, but no more than that.
The Scottish Greens, who have historically opposed the Act, are prevaricating. They are in a position to vote through SNP policy, so hold leverage over the government.
Meanwhile, police numbers in Scotland have dropped to their lowest levels since 2010 and Police Scotland can no longer afford to man traffic signals when tens of thousands of fans leave football grounds. In 2016, we can’t afford a police officer to oversee traffic signals to allow vast volumes of traffic to proceed in the same direction. In Scotland!
We must be the only country in the developed world who can’t afford traffic-signal policing for major events (if you hear someone yelling this on London Road post-game it’ll probably be me, I’ve been known to go on about it).
You are being taken for granted. Don’t be. You can participate in the Proposed Football Act (Repeal) (Scotland) Bill by letting your views be known here.
Scott Brown did well to acknowledge that Aberdeen and Hearts are our most likely challengers this season. The notion that a newly promoted team will come close to Celtic next season is a fantasy.
The Telegraph today run an article on pressure from Spain and Italy to revamp the Champions League. There is a real danger that the already wealthy large leagues will look to further secure their positions by tipping Europe’s top competition in their numerical favour. We should be OK while the current TV deal is in place but all bets are off next time.
The root cause of the demand for change is the pre-eminence of the English and Welsh Premier League cartel, which is slowly colonising not just Scotland, but Spain, Italy and elsewhere too.
The football model is broken pretty much everywhere. Change will happen; let’s hope it’s benign when it comes, as it threatens to finish the game outside of the “top five leagues”. Your clubs will be impoverished and irrelevant, your infrastructure will be denied investment, even the trickle-down of resources to kids football will mean your children are disadvantaged.
Bear that in mind when you cheer Barca and Real Madrid.
I think we’re going to have fun with this Shitov character tomorrow, who thinks there’s nothing new to see about Celtic Park, but needs to dry his eyes because Leigh DIDN’T punch him!
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Podium hunters, now that is childish an pathetic.
Uber right podium?
Close
Paddy will scare the shit out of Shitov!
I owe it all to my hero, Philvis.
Shitov, I shit him…
Mon The Griff…
Close but no cigar.
HH
From previous:
CC
I think we all know.
Fair enough, it’s a valid point. Still don’t see what difference it makes to the content of my posts.
I could easily argue it’s as significant as your use of an apostrophe in the word ‘knows’ as far as comprehension of the point made, but that would be petty IMO.
Plus, I’m not desperate to try to put an unfair label on anyone.
HH
TONYDONNELLY67 on 2ND AUGUST 2016 12:34 PM
Hmmmmmm, the chameleon strikes again.
https://johnjamessite.com/2016/08/02/waiting-for-godot/
A sevco supporter,even down here in Englandshire, was loudly challenging anyone go take £20 off him that sevco would finish 2nd this year. The irony of his statement was totally lost on him, I dually obliged an took his bet, Alas the locals seemed uninterested.
Good point on the policing. It’s unbelievable trying to get out of Barrowfield after games these days.
I thought the big new road running between there and CP was supposed to help? Thought I heard something about the buses were to be put right onto it & away or something? Does anyone have info on what the arrangement is supposed to be? Also, the residents of Barrowfield are surely going to get sick of it pretty quickly. It was bad enough in the past but seems an awful lot worse this season so far.
That offensive behaviour act is a licence to arrest anyone that offends your timid eyes or ears, its an embarrassment for a civilised country to allow this to continue, oh and hi Paul67 et al.
V
The traffic issues became more difficult when the velodrome and athletes village was built on a huge area of grass that acted as a car park and fed int Dalmarnock Road and London Road, east and west.
London Road is no go west past the stadium till at least 5.30. The new road structure at Dalmarnock Road has further slowed egress there to the east and everyone and there granny is trying to go west/Shawfield. Anyone going east turns to London Road and there is no one controlling the lights so a 90 second stop evey 4 minutes at the M74 junction. New housing now under construction on the ground that provided parking spaces one back from London Road towards Tollcross Road has displaced hundreds more cars further up London Road.
CL nights always came with an acceptance the traffic would be torture but with numbers approaching the same for league matches transport needs addressed with all of these added pressures. We often get the train at Dalmarnock, but that’s imperfect too, last week we were not able to get onto the platform until the our train had come and gone and cleared some of the crowd.
It has become a project. First stop is perhaps for the Club to get permission to train and deploy staff at the M74 junction on London Road. A 20 minute clear run along London Road onto the motorway would be a big start.
Either that or start playing turgid, hopeless football and close the top tier.
R67
I have often accused posters of believing what they read and hear in the media, the same media they ignore btw, so I have iyo made childish and pathetic accusations re these posters.
Now you may call me thick and being devoid of comprehending english, fine I can live with that.
No matter how you want to dress it up, you were slagging posters who defend Efe, that is the bottom line and well you know it.
I defend Efe so you are slagging me.
JamesGang – Happy Birthday big man, hope your having a good day!!
HH
Anyone heard how kevj is?
PAUL67
The traffic management isn’t new.
My Dad and I caught a taxi to a match a few years ago. The driver suggested he would get as far past Dalmarnock station as he could,then we would be better walking.
Natch,I asked why. He explained the area was a disaster pre and post match because police had been withdrawn.
Good lad,we took his advice.
As a matter of interest,is this happening wi a new mob in the soothside?
Good Afternoon.
Here are my two latest offerings. One about sycophantic Sevco coverage:
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2016/08/01/land-of-boak-and-glory/
And one about Broony’s great interview with Sky Sports yesterday:
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2016/08/01/going-off-script/
Blantyrekev
Thanks for that. This is why I love CQN.
TET
Let’s just leave it eh mate?
Consultation on the Repeal of the Act completed; everyone should take 10 minutes to complete it!
Faster egress from the upper tier via ‘ firemans poles ‘ straight into Janefield St
BSR
Funny you should say that, we were discussing the very same at the top of the JS at the Imps game…my suggestion of a death slide line straight into Barrowfield was considered immature, unrealistic and simply too far…;-)
ramblings –
the traffic management after the imps game was worst ive seen. the big junction at end of dalmarnock road, manned by 2 polis bikes, watvching the lights change.
right next to their new big polis station as well.
i actually think its deliberate, as is the upgrades of all the motorways for the next 4 months, anything to stop us enjoyin ur Champions league nights.
tomorrow not a sell out yet, plenty of tickets all over the ground, which suprises me, after the huge turnout for Imps game.
Aberdeen game only a couple of hundred green dots left.
season books, only 1 seat left.
in brendan we trust
TheClumpany on 2nd August 2016 1:00 pm
Broonie interview, brilliant, a must read everyone.
‘The most right wing left wing govt’
Paul the oba is a pile of pish and should be repealed as soon as
Alas your opening line is a pile of kack too;, unless your forgetting bout the war criminal and his party helpers who kissed neo con ass in wiping out/displacing 1, 000, 000 iragis.no bad for a fake socialist govt.
Remember Paul our club turned uo for that summit when they should have been told to gtf.
HH
Plus the fact there is no police presence at Bridgeton X after every game now, and with the new club starting in the same league as us, trust me, with the batterings that lots gonny get this season unfortunately it’s an accident waiting to happen, and of course hopefully I’m wrong.
Saint Stivs says SACK THE BOARD on 2nd August 2016 1:13 pm
ramblings –
the traffic management after the imps game was worst ive seen. the big junction at end of dalmarnock road, manned by 2 polis bikes, watvching the lights change.
right next to their new big polis station as well.
i actually think its deliberate, as is the upgrades of all the motorways for the next 4 months, anything to stop us enjoyin ur Champions league nights.
________
Do you really believe that the Highways Agency are in on the masonic conspiracy?
An Tearmann on 2nd August 2016 1:16 pm
‘The most right wing left wing govt’
Alas your opening line is a pile of kack too;, unless your forgetting bout the war criminal and his party helpers who kissed neo con ass in wiping out/displacing 1, 000, 000 iragis.no bad for a fake socialist govt.
______
Riiiight.
Congratulations for your political purity.
So Raberto67
Are you a hun?
:-)
HH
Y
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Oscar Knox, MacKenzie Furniss and anyone else who fights Neuroblastoma on 1st August 2016 11:16 pm
Good Evening.
On penalties? Full run up, no hesitation or stutters, laces through the ball, bottom left (if you are a right footer), hard as you like – for the keeper to save he has to have been brilliant.
Never saw the Big Shot place or chip one in my lifetime or his!
*hmmm, big Tam only missed 3 penalties that I can recall, one of them, at swinecastle, was a typical Tam penalty where he blasted the ball only for it tae hit cruickshank’s legs as he was diving the other way, the shot was so ferocious that it rebounded past Tam.
One of the others was in a game against the zombies at the hun end of Parkheid where he tried tae place the ball only for norrie martin tae easily save it.
Cannae remember the other missed one.
Intentional over and under policing?
Who’dHaveThunkIt CSC
The European Cup is now dwarfed in marketability by the English league. However, I am unsure if re marketing the Champions league as a top 5 only would get the interest it would projected to have v the ongoing popularity of the EPL.
The attractiveness for the UK in buying the Sky or BT product is tied into your overall entertainment package. Broadband, phone, tv and probably mobile will again by a tie in.
The culture in Spain, Italy and Getmany not to mention France is probably a bit more discerning and less about the bling, therefore they don’t buy tv and entertainment on such a scale and therefore enhance the finances of their provincial sides.
Our fickle fans of football but into the ‘excitement’ of a Chinese billionaire buying their club and using false to money to inflate their turnover beyond a Celtic, Ajax, Benfica.
Sky and BT lap it up and churn out the falsehood.
I can only hope that people come to their senses that Football is better when it is not fixed.
Perhaps the big story on football doping will kill it but I’m not convinced the public would be that appalled. It may even mainstream drug use in professional sport and allow it to be legal.
AT
I’m way too handsome for that!
;-)
HH
Do you really believe that the Highways Agency are in on the masonic conspiracy?
———–
aye.
there was 4 years they could get all them repairs done, when the zombies where at home on petrol cup ties.
Vmhan – YNWA Wee Oscar
Good afternoon sir
Paul,
Staying on topic of the most right wing left wing Government I enjoyed Paul Larkin’s documentary “The Asterisks years” about the Edinburgh establishment’s protection of oldco Rangers. Couldn’t help thinking thank goodness Scotland wasn’t independent in 2012 or the last few years of laughs could’ve been very different. Would like to have seen more on Salmond’s grubby role in all of this including his secret meeting with HMRC trying to clear up his pal Murray’s nappy.
Probably the only way the traffic problems clear up,is if the locals play the environmental card,a couple of hundred cars and buses in a confined area,releasing exhaust emissions to launch a spaceship….