babychunder

Born in a close in Rannoch Road, grew up in Letham, council house. Left in the 80s, it was a good place to grow up, everyone supported each other. No problems at all back then. Nothing against people from Tulloch, Craigie, Kinnoull Hill, why hate your neighbour when there's Dundee just along the road?

Born in a close in Rannoch Road, grew up in Letham, council house. Left in the 80s, it was a good place to grow up, everyone supported each other. No problems at all back then. Nothing against people from Tulloch, Craigie, Kinnoull Hill, why hate your neighbour when there's Dundee just along the road?

Just spent the weekend in Denmark. £250 a night for hotel (includes various taxes), £2.50 for a bottle of water (includes environmental tax on the plastic bottle), £6 for a half pint (includes duty and taxes). The folks I work with there tell me that the difference in take home pay between a CEO and a Bog Cleaner is very small due to their progressive tax system. This creates a flat, non-hierarchical society where people from all walks of life mingle freely. We took a walk round Christinia, an alternative community of some 1000 folks who live on the outskirts of town, commune-fashion. Lots of soft drugs on the go, peace and free love, no violence, recycling, arts and crafts, thriving music scene etc. Education, health, and other govt services we have to pay for here are free in Denmark. Surveys cite the Danes as being the happiest people in the world. I was debating the independence issue with my wife over beers and her view is firmly against, based on the lack of leadership qualities and vision from those advocating separatism. My view is that I'd like Scotland to be like Denmark, but it will take a long time to achieve and so really the indy vote is more for our children / grandchildren than us. Plus I don't think that we should trust or rely on politicians to deliver our future, it's in our own hands more than theirs and their role should be to reflect the will of the people. Working folks won't swallow a sharp hike in taxes, nor can we depend on oil to pay our bills. In Denmark there has been no overall political majority for a long time, there are basically two strong parties and several weaker ones who have all learned to cooperate and share power. There's no corruption there, public bodies are open, accountable and transparent, citizens take a pride in their country and nationality and tend to pull together. In recent years, the political pendulum has swung right a bit, but there are loonies on both sides. It's generally a fair, open and tolerant society.
If anyone convinced me that Scottish independence would lead to us becoming like Denmark I'd mark my X for it right away. However, the vision put out by the yes campaign was not very compelling and everyone ended up rolling around in the mud. A great pity - opportunity missed.
EDIT I almost forgot this thread is about the rise of the Tories. I can see swings to the right in all the countries I work in. This may portend more separatism, hard to say, but in Scotland I'm not really sure what the Tories stand for, couldn't see through all the bluster I'm afraid.

Just spent the weekend in Denmark. £250 a night for hotel (includes various taxes), £2.50 for a bottle of water (includes environmental tax on the plastic bottle), £6 for a half pint (includes duty and taxes). The folks I work with there tell me that the difference in take home pay between a CEO and a Bog Cleaner is very small due to their progressive tax system. This creates a flat, non-hierarchical society where people from all walks of life mingle freely. We took a walk round Christinia, an alternative community of some 1000 folks who live on the outskirts of town, commune-fashion. Lots of soft drugs on the go, peace and free love, no violence, recycling, arts and crafts, thriving music scene etc. Education, health, and other govt services we have to pay for here are free in Denmark. Surveys cite the Danes as being the happiest people in the world. I was debating the independence issue with my wife over beers and her view is firmly against, based on the lack of leadership qualities and vision from those advocating separatism. My view is that I'd like Scotland to be like Denmark, but it will take a long time to achieve and so really the indy vote is more for our children / grandchildren than us. Plus I don't think that we should trust or rely on politicians to deliver our future, it's in our own hands more than theirs and their role should be to reflect the will of the people. Working folks won't swallow a sharp hike in taxes, nor can we depend on oil to pay our bills. In Denmark there has been no overall political majority for a long time, there are basically two strong parties and several weaker ones who have all learned to cooperate and share power. There's no corruption there, public bodies are open, accountable and transparent, citizens take a pride in their country and nationality and tend to pull together. In recent years, the political pendulum has swung right a bit, but there are loonies on both sides. It's generally a fair, open and tolerant society.
If anyone convinced me that Scottish independence would lead to us becoming like Denmark I'd mark my X for it right away. However, the vision put out by the yes campaign was not very compelling and everyone ended up rolling around in the mud. A great pity - opportunity missed.
EDIT I almost forgot this thread is about the rise of the Tories. I can see swings to the right in all the countries I work in. This may portend more separatism, hard to say, but in Scotland I'm not really sure what the Tories stand for, couldn't see through all the bluster I'm afraid.

ah but of course nobody gets to vote, nobody that is apart from the suits, blazers and brogues already well established in top tiers of management of the game. So even if we were to say.. get a clearout of the current inhabitants of level 6 at Hampden they would only be replaced by more of the same ilk. I hate to say it but the game in Scotland needs to be run by non-football people in an effort to break the nods, winks, disgression and handshakes that pass for governance with the present regimes.
These people are accountable to no one. You've only got to look at the recent statemts from the QC when speaking for the SFA at the Ashley hearing when he stated that the SFA do not answer questions posed by shareholders, they certainly are not required to account to the everyday fan. (You just pay yer money mugs - and we'll run the game as we wish.)
Let's not fool ourselves, there is no higher authority to which the SFA/SPFL are answerable. People on other blogs have related stories of having written to MSP's requesting that they get involved as the SFA/SPFL are in receipt of public monies and should therefore be accountable as to how they go about spending/distributing/allocating or donating. Nobody wants to get involved, one usually gets a letter back explaining that the SFA/SPFL are blah, blah, blah - and the author opts out of doing anything.
Indeed but, let me just stick to our own back yard for the moment. Where, as ever, it all comes down to the club playing out of Ibrox. About two, or maybe three years ago the SFA said they were all for transparency and clarity and in order to move forward would soon be creating a web page on their site showing all clubs yearly accounts. The fact that they haven't yet done so is purely IMHO due to the fact that one club, yes the only club that matters to the SFA/SPFL, cannot produce verified audited accounts. (They will still be shoehorned into Europe by the SFA should they win the Scottish cup though - but that's another story).

Wishful thinking I can't see any way forward on this front in the near future if the Scottish Government can continue to turn a blind eye (I'm sure they must be aware) to the corruption and lack of corporate governance that has taken place within their very own football association concerning The secret 5 way agreement, the LNS farce, the imperfectly registered players (Sandy ‘ s best yet) the fraudulent UEFA licence, unpaid fines and general maladministration. Like I said previously the football authorities don't have to answer to anybody in Scotland, they are the top tier. Imagine this farce taking place in England. The media would be on to it like the hawks that they are. Only in Scotland can a blanket be successfully drawn over the entire omnishambles. The print and broadcast media have kept it well suppressed for over four years now and there's no sign of it changing.
There are signs that organisations outwith Scotlands national borders are becoming increasingly aware of the banana state omnishambles that passes for governance of our game.
Only my opinion of course. Anyway I thought I would reply to your post as it is a long time since anyone has bothered posting anything of substance for discussion on this thread.
 

I have long held that the football bodies, be they SFA, UEFA, FIFA are institutionally corrupt and using their office to line their pockets and benefit themselves. The cynical amongst us fans will argue of course that you get who you vote for, and with all that money floating around who wouldn't be tempted? For me the problem is not so much with the seedy individuals who inhabit these organisations, but the way in which they are governed, to whom they are accountable, and the concept of who owns them. For example a boardroom has independent directors to keep them in line, and a chairman to keep the CEO from doing the wrong thing. Charities have the charities commission. There are laws and codes of practice which apply in the private sector. On top of this, there are shareholders (the owners) to whom the board are accountable. For me the football bodies must be reformed to give the fans and the clubs / associations they represent a greater say in how they are run and the decisions they take. Additionally there must be independent internal scrutiny and regular published accounts of the minutes, the finances, the decisions, and the way each official votes on key issues like the World Cup. With hundreds of millions of stakeholders around the world who love the game there is no reason why the doings of the elected officials can not be laid bare for all to see. Then we will all know who has been baksheeshed by Qatar, Russia etc. When it comes to the award of contracts, they should be done under open tender procurements with clear scoring criteria and independent administration to ensure that the most advantageous bid wins rather than awarding the TV rights to some crony who then arbs them on the next day for three times the price. The top administrators should publish their tax returns every year to show transparency and lead by example. We wouldn't stand for this sort of shit in any other walk of life and I don't see why we should in football.
Discuss!

Genuinely sorry to see United relegated R, very sad to see all these players getting their pansies and the heart of the place getting torn out, here's hoping you can recruit some good laddies and bounce straight back up.

Genuinely sorry to see United relegated R, very sad to see all these players getting their pansies and the heart of the place getting torn out, here's hoping you can recruit some good laddies and bounce straight back up.

Votes are all cast T.

Votes are all cast T.

The blame game is thundering along among Arabs, it is quite hysterical IMO.  Mistakes were made by everyone from Chairman to the fans!  We were, a mere 18 months ago the model for every club in Europe.  ST had sucessfully replaced an outstanding manager, and won a trophy, negotiated toxic debts levels to keep the club clear of insolvency and poured resources into the youth system, and had a stand full of scouts every week as we hammered all comers with a team of laddies.  His very public stance on Sevco ensured he would be public enemy No1 for the Weegie press pack, and the knives have been out for ST ever since. 
The player sales were an utter disaster, but I can understand how and why this happened.  We lost Johnny Russell for 500K.........Johnny Effin Russell!  How much is that as a % of Derby's salary ledger?  We lost Kalvenas, Conway, Robson, Flood, Bauben, Gomis, and a host of others for next to nothing, all to 'bigger clubs' who could pay more cash. The Goodwillie deal must have emboldened ST, and why not?  If the 'bigger clubs' want your players make em pay, we lose them anyway!  If I had told anyone on here that the defeated team in the Scottish cup final of 2014 would rake in 10 million in transfer fees over the next year would you have believed it?  On top of the sales, Rado, Butcher, Fudge, Watson, players who can put in a tackle, all left for one reason or another, leaving the squad threadbare.........this chain of events left us hollow and Jmac, nor Mixu were able to lift the sqaud.
I would like to see Sturrock in to steady the ship, as a DOF, to oversee the restructuring of the club, he is afterall something of an expert in promotions under pressure.  It all points to McKinnon, again, not a bad shout, knows the league inside out and has done an excellent job at LU, Brechin and RR.

You can see that the DNA of the great William McGonagall lives on in some of these contributions....

Pleased they won. Hope for all diddy teams!

I don't mind chipping in like last time?

1 Joe
2 Murray
3 Darnell

When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
 
 
From one football fan to his fellow brothers and sisters.
 
Gone but not forgotten 
#JFT96

Play for the badge - give the young guys their chance!

Play for the badge - give the young guys their chance!

Play for the badge - give the young guys their chance!

Play for the badge - give the young guys their chance!

Play for the badge - give the young guys their chance!

I'll be cheering for the Tic - first time you'll ever hear me supporting one of the OF

What's all that about then eh? Can't see how the ravings of a Rangers-leaning ex-manager will lead to mayhem? Just ignore the noises coming out of Mordor.
The clubs aren't being bullied by Rangers, or Celtic for that matter, it's the governing bodies who can't see past the Old Firm.
The SFA are a bunch of fat cats out to line their own pockets off the backs of supporters. No way will they rock the boat.

Top Six place secured. Now for fourth and that Euro trip (assuming the 'tic can oblige)!

I'm looking for fourth place with Celtic winning the double and us on our travels again.
PS somewhere with beautiful women, warm weather and cheap beer just like Armenia, but not so far away please.