wee-toon-red

If it wasn't for the fact we're utter dung this season and no threat to anyone, you'd say this signing harks back to the old days of Rangers or Celtic signing a player just to weaken another team because they could.

Here's a response to the Israel study from a doctor who posts on another forum I use. I post this purely out of interest rather than agreeing or disagreeing but some might find it reassuring. Short version: They looked too soon. Needed to leave it another week. Longer version: This study was a case control study, which provides less persuasive data than a randomised controlled trial. You need to be certain that the controls are selected in a way that resembles the elements that matter. You may not even know what all of those factors are. In an RCT of adequate size, that is not a concern, because the unknown factors should be distributed evenly. Second, I think they looked too soon. The text of the report says: "Then we looked to see what is the daily positivity rate... And we saw that there was no difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated until day 14 post-vaccination. But on day 14 post-vaccination, a drop of 33% in positivity was witnessed in the vaccinated group and not in the unvaccinated... this is really good news." This suggests their primary analysis was on day 14. That is just after the lines separate. A week later it would have been much more convincing. Then after the booster, it jumps to 95%. Highly unlikely if 33% was the first shot ceiling. You can see the lines separate much more with time. Third, sounds like they were looking at tests alone rather than tests and cases. Doing so captures a larger number, including those who were incubating when they got the shot, and asymptomatic, as well as false positives with old virus. This will dilute any perceived treatment effect. By the time of the second shot, that virus has cleared off and you get a clean treatment effect. In contrast, Pfizer required a PCR test AND characteristic symptoms.

The idea of us paying off 18 months of McInnes' contract while we're sitting third in the league but with no fans attending games is one I find hard - if not impossible - to take seriously. Plus, the Stephen Glass element of the rumour reeks of laziness due to the Atlanta link.

Far be it from me to stick up for Rangers normally, but they’ve a much better record this year than Celtic have had in any season other than the unbeaten one. That doesn’t mean Celtic aren’t a shambles or that Lennon is an acceptable manager but Rangers need to be given a lot of credit for how consistent they’ve been.

You've got to hope that "locking down" from Boxing Day has helped to keep Scotland from following the trend in England as it felt like ours was more preventative whereas down south it was more of a necessity but I suppose only time will tell.

Wouldn't be surprised if all football is suspended, a handy out for the authorities in the light of this Celtic stuff...

All football below the Championship suspended for three weeks.

Blue tape to match the passports?

It’s quite something how much panic this new strain appears to have caused in such a short space of time. Is it too cynical to wonder whether to justify finally “taking action” in london, they feel the whole country has to suffer?

While all of those would be great, I don't see any of them making even a dent in the OF superiority. Money talks and that's pretty much the end of it. There's an interesting and potentially worrying article on The Athletic website just now which paints a potentially devastating picture of the impact of Brexit on Scottish youth academies. The thinking is that with English clubs unable to sign European kids under the age of 18, combined with the noticeable improvement in the standard of Scottish players such as Robertson, McGinn, Tierney and, most pertinently, Billy Gilmour, that their attention will turn to Scotland to fill their own academies. Apparently since Gilmour went down to Chelsea the number of English club scouts at Scottish games went from pretty much zero to nearly 20. In the long term that could be good for the national team but with the compensation framework set by FIFA a relative pittance it could be a disaster for Scottish clubs looking to make money or fill their squads with top class youth. It's behind a paywall but here's the link for anyone who subscribes and hasn't seen it yet: https://theathletic.co.uk/2197585/2020/12/16/brexit-scottish-english-transfers/

How many 19 year olds have we “seen it all before with” in terms of three man of the match awards for a team of Chelsea’s standing and in the competitions Gilmour’s done it in?

There are two guarantees he would start for Rangers every week: 1. Chelsea won't loan him out to sit on the bench; 2. He's better than any other midfield player they have (and any other midfielder in Scotland, for that matter).

None of the United players were up to much but McTominay was one of the few actually trying to get involved in the game after they went 2-0 down. He certainly wasn't horrendous or worryingly bad.

Gilmour will be in the team never mind the squad come the euros. He’s on a different level to any other Scottish player in about forty years in terms of his technical ability.

You think? SPFL debut at 16 and has progressed to being a regular in serie A at 18. That’s the best ANY young Scottish player has done for a long, long, long time and you could argue that only Gilmour is more exciting at the moment. If anything people aren’t getting excited enough about Hickey, tho I’m not sure what karamoko dembele thinks of him.

Anyone who thinks we could win the group but Israel couldn't must have been on holiday for the last three years.

If clubs haven't followed the rules/guidelines during "their" time then they deserve all the get. Player behaviour out of school is hard to punish the clubs for but if the clubs have admitted the breaches then they're at fault and deserve a punishment. Football - despite the nonsense Doncaster came out with at the weekend - has been given special treatment over other industries and to screw it up is a special kind of stupid.

If he's the player many folk think he is (apparently including his manager) he won't be a "risk" when he's put into the team. He proved last season he can star against big teams so Lampard won't be afraid to use him.

First vaccinations in Scotland scheduled for Tuesday next week. That's impressively quick.

Are Lawwell and the board happy to have Lennon as a shield to protect them, to an extent, for resting on their laurels and not spending big enough or wisely enough to win 10 in a row? Although if Jack Ross is the best alternative they can find then no wonder they're sticking with Lennon.

Glasgow Councillor and the relatively high-profile SNP NEC member Rhiannon Spear didn't win the nomination for Argyll and Bute, which must be something of a surprise, at least to her and the party.

I think there's a bit of a myth developing around this "Griffiths can only play 30 minutes" narrative. He's not getting a game for Celtic because their manager thinks he has better options and he's lacking match sharpness due to that. If he gets a run of games he'll be fine. Otherwise, a pro footballer who would only be fit for a third of a game would, unless they're a proper veteran and not someone in their early 30s, be chased out of the game pretty quickly as who wants to pay someone for that?

Fleck's Sheffield Utd in a nutshell: did well in the lower leagues, went on a run with the high of promotion and looked better than they really are and now returning to the norm. Championship next season.

I have similar back issues, with lower back pain that can often manifest itself as a real tightness in my left hamstring and glutes. The best fix I have found is a slightly alternative form of massage, which is designed to "activate" the glutes and relieve the stress and tightness. Long story short, massaging the base of my skull and the corner of my jawbone for 30-60s each makes an unbelievable difference to me. Pre-lockdown I went for monthly treatments but haven't been able to go since then, but even working on those areas myself can provide instant improvement.

If Big Ramy’s on the park we’re done for.