Diamond Scot

I just dont think it would make things better because I dont think many people would disclose Rangers or Celtic as their teams. I think we would stand to gain much more from a proper Ref review and performance setup. Moving to full time profrssional refs would be a start. Maybe bring in a well respected retired Ref from England to run it. Somebody without any baggage who wouldnt be afraid to call bad decisions for what they are. If any ref consistently makes bad decisions in favour of one team or against one team then they dont get assisgned games involving that team and probably run the risk of moving down the leagues and not earning as much.

This doesnt work in practice though. Rangers refs wouldnt ref Rangers games but would ref Celtic games. If they are open to bias then it follows that they would be biased against Celtic. A) because they are Rangers oldest and fiercest rivals and Celtic results ditectly impact on Rangers success. If I was a ref id be equally biased for Scotland and against England. England would get hee haw. It works in England because they dont have 2 big clubs winning everything and being the only trams contesting the title each year. I also repeat. How do you know what team a ref supports. In England they provide the info because they know it would stop them doing big games. In Scotland you would end up with Partick, Queens Park, Clyde fans etc with non stop accusations of closet Rangers / fan ref.

This is it in a nutshell. Its easy to do in England because not being able to ref Man Utd games wouldnt exclude you from reffing other big games or pretty much any cup final. In Scotland a Rangers supporting ref wouldnt be allowed to ref any Rangers or Celtic game. Straight away that removes the biggest games in our domestic calender and probably about 50% of cup finals. If that ref has ambitions to ref in Europe and major comps how does he domestrate that he can perfrom at that level? By saying he has reffed an Edinburgh or Dundee derby? I know a few refs. One of them reffered the team he supported in his very first spfl match. His dad was a season ticket holder in the stadium and he had been going to matches since he was a kid. He gave a pen against his team who lost. Its their job, you need to trust they will do it properly. And as ppl have pointed out, what would stop the Rangers fan saying he was a Partick fan or an Airdrie fan etc. Would we then be looking up photos from their childhood when they wear football tops? If that was the case then im a Scotland supporting fraud as I had Italy strips, argentina strips etc etc

Why would a priest give Rangers a dubious offside goal? Priests are catholic. Surely that just shows that refs make mistakes and there is no pre determined bias.

Football is a business aswell as a sport. There is zero chance in the real world of clubs voting against their own interests. Thats why major decisons need to be maxe by the majority so that there is more of a chance that decisions are made for the many and not the few. You say its not set in stone forever but it more or less is. The Old Firm will always vote together because they are so similar in size and wealth. Their interests align. That will never change so therefore a vote to change something needs their say so.

Thats my point though. Why would the Old Firm want a more competitive league? If you were their Director how would you sell that to the club / shareholders / fans? People blame the Old Firm for not doing whats in the best interests of Scottish Football. Thats not their job. Their job is to do whats best for their club. Its the SFA / SPFLs job to do whats best for Scottish football. Aberdeen had the chance to remove the Old Firm power. They declined and now things will never change. Aberdeen are to blame for that, not the Old Firm.

It sets a dangerous precident. The festival was known about months ago. If there was any concerns then normally the club would inform Uefa who would swap the dates. Its the Police job to control away fans. Ban them from certain areas etc etc. A club cant just decide to not allow them in but still have home fans. Imagine the uproar on here if Scotland and Wales win the semi final and then the Welsh FA said no away allocation because of a dragon festival and the Police were busy.

I completely agree about the mismanagement however if you put yourself in the shoes of an Old Firm director, what are you suggesthing they do. Almost every suggestion would lose them money and potentially weaken their position in terms of success. Yes, that may result in the league being more competitive, more exciting etc but where is that beneficial to the club? Big clubs in England in early 90s have fallen away in England because of the competitiveness. Your effectively asking Turkeys to vote for Xmas. The decision should have been taken out of the Old Firms hands but will now never happen again.

100%. When I say its about religion I mean thats the divider. Communities are seperated by "religion", starting with schooling and then working its way through a persons identity by the team they support. Even those not interested in sport will have a leaning towards one team or the other based on what side of the divide they are from.

I can respect and understand that position for an individual. Looking at the bigger picture id rather get rid of all things like that.

Im not saying it would have been perfect and solved all the problems however I can say with certainty that it was the 1 opportunity to change the status quo.

If you are from Aberdeen (im assuming) then im not surprised. West coast of Scotland is a rule upon itself. Religion runs through the heart of everything. I remember being out for a drink with mates in Edinburgh who have known each other for 25 years, lived together etc. One was getting married and mentioned that the priest was gonna do the ceremony despite it not being in the church. The other mate asked him if he was Catholic / grew up Catholic. It blew my mind that ppl could know each other so long without knowing that. Its one of the 1st things that "gets worked out" in the West coast. For me its not about being precious. Its just unnessesary and not the type of country I want to live in.

My understanding is that the voting structure requires a 10/2 majority for major change. That will never happen with the Old Firm in the league as their interest so closely align. Voting through a change in voting structure would have allowed the other 10 clubs to change anything they wanted that they could agree on. Now getting them to agree on something is another thing but for example it could have been league size, financial fair play, hone grown player qoutas etc

Im surprised by that. Almost every person ive ever spoken to describes Airdrie fans as huns. Most hime fans will chant some kind of Hun song when I used to go to away games. Even when I was in Northern Ireland for work I had an "encounter" with some youths around the 12th July when I got allowed to go on my way because "Airdrie are more Hun than we are". Airdrie are generally associated with Proddy and Rovers (Coatbridge) with Catholic. Personally speaking it doesnt anger me, Airdrie have an element of really scummy fans ourselves. As an adult though and working in law, I see the context of the use of the word all the time and it goes beyond the mere choice of football team. Its nasty and is part of a much wider problem. As an comparison id highlight the use of the word "paki". Lots of people use the term to describe the corner shop which in a way is totally innocent however the word and its use goes way beyond that and when broken down there is zero reason to describe a shop this way. Its part of an underlying prejudice, known or not. For what its worth I dont like the term sheep shaggers either.

Would you expect Rangers or Celtic to actively take steps to make their own clubs less succesful? There is 1 club who are to blame for the current and future voting structure in Scottish football. Aberdeen. Everything could and should have changed when Rangers werent in the top flight.

Whether a word bothers somebody or not isnt the test for its meaning. Legally its a word that may get you charged. Whether convicted or not depends more on the Sheriff as most like to stay away from the tit for tat football nonsence. That being said it shouldnt be allowed on a Scotland football forum. If like people claim, its just another word for Rangers fans, why is it also aimed at Hearts, Airdrie etc There are plenty of words that can be used to describe Rangers. Why use the word at all.

You would have to ban about 10/20 fsns as it was at least 2 bottles and loads of coins over 3 corners. All from the GB section.

Surprised theres been no chat on the Rangers agm today. No need to sell players being the headliner.

I agree but not quite as good with the passing. McTominey has something that all top top players have thats very hard to describe. I cant remember the game but think it was Cyprus at home. Kenny McClean started and I think got motm. He passed the ball succesfully to the player who most people would say was the correct pass, completed the pass, kept the ball moving etc etc. McTominey then came on for him and made the same passes, he just did it quicker. He never received the pass, took a touch, looked up and passed, McTominey just got the ball and fired it into the player. Not near the player, not behind the player, right into the players stride. This led to many more chances being created because Cyprus didnt have time to adjust. The result of playing like that is that McTominey is more likely to misplace one out the park and get the ire of the fans however the upsides are massive. Its a very subtle thing but is huge in football. You see it when watching the top nations. How often do you see a ball being played out to a full back charging forward and the full back having to check back, adjust his stride, change his direction etc. The top players have the ability to just put it in the path.

I dont like the way McTominey seems to be becoming the new whipping boy. It seems to me that the fact he plays for Man Utd is being used against him. He is an exceptional footballer. All things being equal he is lightyears ahead of McGreggor and others like McClean etc. However football is sometimes about playing combinations and there is no denying the McGreggor and Gilmour have played really well together and imo we shouldnt be breaking that up for such important games. McTominey isnt a CB however what he does give us in the RCB position is somebody who is calm on the ball and is really good at passing through the lines. Playing him and Tierney at LCB and RCB is actually more of an attacking decision than anything. That being said if we now have actual defenders that can pass with similar quality then McTominey should give way to them. If we had friendleys id have been interested in seeing him in the Armstrong / Christie role however again not worth experimenting in a play off. Lets just be grateful our squad depth is so good atm rather than making out like our best players are actually rubbish.

Im not convinced GVB will be any different. Rangers have a 17 year old CB on their books, Leon King who is reported extemely highly rated at the club yet they continue to play a LB at CB and not give him a sniff. I believe the only time he has got near the 1st team this season is in the EL when Rangers dont have a full squad because of eligability issues. Now reported that some EPL sides are looking at him for when his contract expires in the summer. Who would blame the boy, if he isnt going to be playing 1st team football you are much better getting paid more and being at a club with better coaching / facilites.

Wont happen until the other teams start to stand up for themselves. Even the other 10 prem sides getting together and saying they wouldnt field sides in any round unless the final ticketing arrangements were changed would work. But wont happen as the non old firm teams cant get onto the same page.

Thats why I think its more sensible to make a stand in the league cup. If Hibs refused their allocation all the SFA would do is give it to Celtic so they wouldnt care. Even threatening to not play the tie would get tbe SFA talking. If a club played it smart, leaked things to the press like they wont turn up out of protest etc then the SFA couldnt do anything in advance ans the fear of how it would impact on sponsors, TV etc would be enough to get their attention. It should really be quite simple. Offer both teams 50% and sell it in stages, moving around the stadium. Have dates for the tickets to be sold by or else no more tickets go to that team and the rest get offered to the other team.

Could a club refuse to participate if the allocation wasnt 50/50. That would be a strong stance to take. The SFA wouldnt want the embaressment of not having a final so would at least bring them to the table and is low risk for a club as theres no european qualification anyway.

Hibs were brilliant today. Especially in the 1st half but solid also in the 2nd. Very brave by Ross to go (and keep) 2 up top. They showed what can be done when teams attack.