In The News

In The News — 1 Comment
23
Feb 10

The Contractual Obligation Update

It’s not been an easy time for the groundsmen at Scottish football clubs.

Earlier we heard that St Johnstone have suspended their groundsman over the postponement of the Rangers game last Saturday, which, by the way, has nothing to do with the upcoming Old Firm fixture and is in no way meant to give Rangers a breather before they play what could arguably the title deciding fixture against Celtic this weekend. The pipes where frozen, and that’s all there is to it.

Anyway, the good peeps over at Fir Park, Motherwell, must be getting a little nervous as the SFA are considering slapping yet another fine on the club after seeing the state of their pitch in recent fixtures. It’s amazing to think that the club already spunked over £250,000 on the pitch (seen here at left, as the Motherwell defence digs in deep to repel the Hibs attack in last Saturdays 1-0 win) and it still looks like a ploughed tattie-field [BBC]

Another country all too familiar with muddy fields is Belgium. The country that gave us, amongst other things, Jean Claude Van Damme, Tintin, decent beers, the humble chip and Marc Bosman have now managed to overtake Scotland in the UEFA Coefficient ranking table, meaning we’ve lost one of our Champions League places.

It’ll mean nothing to you if you’re not an Old Firm fan – for us, the already pointless SPL has just become even more pointless – but for supporters of Scotland’s League Champions from season 2012 onwards, it’ll mean even more reckless spending as you battle your way through the first of 1,056 qualifying rounds against teams such as a Vatican City Select XI, possibly.

Celtic’s recent financial results only highlighted the dependency the top two have on Champions League football, so this news must come as quite a shock.

Just a thought, but if I was a Scottish footballer, I’d be sending my CV off to Belgian clubs. [Scottish Football Blog]

That Alan McGregor eh, what a tube. Just when it seems he was getting his act together again, he goes and gets assaulted at a taxi rank. Walter Smith, apparently, is not chuffed at his keeper’s latest attempt to get himself a transfer to another club (a Belgian one, if he’s any sense). [Times]

In an unusually good article by Graham Spiers, “pitiful” Aberdeen are seen as the Nottingham Forest of Scotland, which is quite a compliment, if you ask me. [Times]

One thing that will make Celtic’s financial guru’s smile is the news that Bobo “Baldy” Balde has dropped his claims against Celtic for breach of contract and “unauthorised deductions” from his wage packet. The former centre-back spent most of his time under Gordon Strachan’s reign sitting on the bench and generally refusing to feck off – despite some generous offers – preferring instead to sit on his arse making “deductions” of £30k a week from Celtic’s wage bill. The tit. [BBC]

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12
Feb 10

Falkirk take a gamble with survival..

So another manager leaves his post.

Eddie May became the third casualty of the season, following Jim Jefferies and Jim Gannon as he resigns from struggling Falkirk. His appointment was always filled with a certain degree of risk. A youth coach, responsible for setting up and running Falkirk’s relatively successful youth academy, May was thrust into senior management after the hugely (no pun intended) popular John Hughes moved on to Hibs.

It’s not been an easy ride for May. Falkirk has won only three of their 25 domestic matches and their performances of late showed little of the spirit seen under Hughes. Wins where becoming increasingly hard to come by, and with 15 games left to save their place – and financial future – May fell on his sword (there seems to be no hint he was pushed down onto it) and did the honorable thing by stepping aside and letting someone else take over to save the club from relegation.

So Eddie May has been replaced with Steven Pressley, a former Falkirk player, and a man himself a relative novice to league football management. At first glance it’s a strange move, one fraught with danger, because there’s a lot more at stake for teams like Falkirk if they don’t start winning a few games: Falkirk are rooted to the bottom of the table where they’ve been for most of the season, and there’s little sign of that improving, even allowing for the ‘new manager’ syndrome‘. But it’s the cheap option as the Scottish football blog correctly points out, one forced upon them by the ravages of the economic climate we all find ourselves in. A short-term contract (he’s got till the end of the season) covers all bases in case it all goes horribly wrong, allowing the club to get rid of Pressley without incurring Rafa Benitez-esque costs.

Pressley will be assisted in his Herculean labours by Alex Smith, a wily veteran of the Scottish football management merry-go-round, and formerly Falkirk’s Director of Football. Having at various times managed teams with similar infrastructure and finances (Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion, St Mirren, Aberdeen, Clyde, Dundee United and Ross County), Smith may well be the ideal man to help Pressley achieve safety, something Pressley had (perhaps unwisely) promised the Falkirk fans during his first press conference.

Pressley and Smith have got their work cut out for them. Sadly, I just can’t see them surviving, and I worry for their financial future should they find themselves in the First Division come next August. Their only hope is that Hamilton returns to their losing form. The Bairns are only three points from safety at the moment, but with the likes of Celtic, Hibs and Dundee United to come before the split, that gap may well have become unbridgeable.

Here’s what the other Scottish Football blogs had to say about it:

May Day → [Scottish Football Blog]
Now Or Never → [Scottish Football Blog]
Elvis is in the building → [Scotzine]
Elvis gets his way → [We Love Fitba]
Eddie Leaving Falkirk → [We Know SFA]

In The News — 2 Comments
21
Jan 10

Scottish football integrity is maintained

Browsing through the various football sites today, waiting for the SFA to decide just what the hell to do about the whole Dunfermline fiasco, it struck me that this seems to be a good time to be a lawyer with a healthy business in Scottish football litigation.

I don’t know much about the law, but I do know a lot about how these drama’s usually play out.

You can bet the house and all the furniture in it, that no matter what happens (apart from the SFA telling Dunfermline to get it right up them), Stenhousemuir will appeal the decision. And they’re probably quite right too; after all, there’s a lot of money at stake here. And nevermind pride – once you go out to Celtic in the next round, think of all that lovely lolly in your bank account, estimated to run into quite a large number, relatively speaking.

Look, the way I see it, everyone’s a winner: Dunfermline’s legal team get their money no matter what, as do Stenhousemuir’s when their appeal against Dunfermline’s appeal fails, Celtic progress to the next round after an easy game, and, following the inevitable 9-0 trashing (or 4-0 if Dunfermline win their appeal), the SFA can proudly state that the integrity of Scottish football has been maintained. Continue reading →

In The News — 3 Comments
12
Jan 10

That’s your Jim Jefferies gone then ..

Ring in the changes.

We’re barely three games in to the new year and already we’ve got three teams without a manager. To paraphrase, this is supposed to be a football competition, not the Burma Railway .. Continue reading →

In The News — 2 Comments
31
Dec 09

Rangers 7-1 Dundee United

Fucking hell. Let the inquest begin at Dundee United.

If there was any doubt the league is over for the rest of the unwashed masses outside of fair Glasgow town, let that result be a warning to you all.

Oh, and if Craig Levein is reading this: get yer man Boyd into the national side – pronto!

Elsewhere, Hearts beat Motherwell 1-0 to move within five points of fourth-placed Dundee United. Michael Stewart was on target as Hearts win their third game in a row.

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