There is now a real prospect that COVID-19 could close down British football for the foreseeable future.
Given the way in which the virus has impacted Italian society as a whole that does not seem so fanciful now.
At Dingwall today did their bit to get football closed down.
I watched most the Sevco’s match and I just hope that what they contracted in Dubai isn’t contagious.
If it is then Ross County have no chance of beating the drop!
Ah, dear reader, it is at times like these that I seek some fleeting comfort in a quip suitable for the first step up to the gallows.
As I have written here recently, the health of spectators and indeed all those involved in running a football match must take priority.
A packed stadium is a veritable petri dish for a virus that is spread by respiratory droplets.
Of course, closed-door matches will hit clubs financially and probably only Celtic could withstand that hit.
However, next to the health of people that matters not a jot.
It now seems that an empty stadium is the sensible next step in attempting to contain this disease.
I agree with Jock Stein’s observation that football without fans is nothing.
However, it is hard to argue against emptying the stadiums during this current crisis.
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I see the blue side still playing the racism card to explain the Colombian’s form drop.
Oh and he gets reffed to a different standard to everyone else plus the Scottish media has crucified him.
Oh dear, time to remove those tinted specs and see things for what they really are.
Who hired the PI to put a tracker on the man child’s car?
He’s been lucky with certain refs who have turned a blind eye to his theatrical diving and leaving something on opposition players in the tackle as he did again yesterday and got away with it.
With his sales value though the floor and Tavernier’s programme nonsense neither of them are saleable.
Add to that the refusal of Juve to pay £10m for Kamara then next to be put forward as the man to solve all their money worries is Barasic available at £22m if we are to believe the hyping up of the Croatian.
There is just no realisation amongst their support, thanks to the splendid job done by the Scottish media, that cash is king and there is a queue of former merchandising partners lining up to claim their share of the kitty, though they may have to wait till the next transfer window and/or the next season ticket round to satisfy their demands.
Gerrard ain’t seen nothing yet if he thinks he’s currently under pressure. Watch that ramp up as 10 IAR looms large and the chance of investment in the squad is dependent on the appearance of Alex Rae’s mystery benefactor.
Does Stevie G want his legacy at Rangers to be remembered as being the manager as Celtic wrack up 10 IAR?
That could follow him forever if he were to move on elsewhere to continue his managerial career.
The Deny Way
And now the end is near
And Sevco face the final curtain
My friends I’ll say it clear
I’ve laughed so much my sides are hurtin’
They thought that we were fooled
By their ‘oor auld club didnae die’ ways
But we all knew the truth of their Big Lie ways.
Debts? They have a few
But then again they never pay them
Their creditors are in a queue
All waiting for some money fae them
They planned each bill they dodged
So they could dae it in a fly way
But even so they’re fucked
In a goodbye way.
Yes there are times I’m sure he knew
Dave King bit off more than he could chew
But through it all when cash ran out
He got the fans to bail him out
He gave fuck all
Yet faced them all
That wonkie eye way.
They’ve moaned, they’ve whinged and cried
They’ve had their fill of Sevco losing
While fans of other sides
Just find it all so amusing
To think they’re still so crap
In spite of spending all that money
If I were a bigoted chap
I’d find that funny.
For what is a Hun?
What has he got?
If not a brain?
And he has not
Is it the sense he truly needs
To see the club he loved is deid?
The record shows he’ll answer “No”
It’s the deny way.
I’m not really sure where I stand on this.
I fully appreciate the necessity for people’s health to be put first…but where do you stop ?
There are millions of people going to work every day in factories and offices …and they get there by travelling on buses and trains.
And both these scenarios have people mixing together.
So I’m not sure that that’s any less risky than going to a football match ?
And someone raised an excellent point about games being potentially watched on TV in overcrowded pubs and clubs.
Anyway…I started off saying I wasn’t sure about where I stood on this…
Well I’ve actually now made up my mind.
I don’t think playing games behind closed doors is a good idea…unless we decide to close everything…and I mean everything…down…and I can’t see that happening.
Oh and if anyone in authority from Glasgow Central Station is reading this…
Remove the signs on the escalators that urges you to hold onto the handrail.
That would help.
I watched Match of the Day at the weekend and witnessed a sight so fecking stupid that I begin to wonder if millions of people have lost their marbles and believe this shit. Okay, here’s what I saw. The players came out and nodded to each other. The match commentator helpfully explained that because of the Corona beer, um cigars, uh virus the players were not allowed to shake hands. Yet seconds before the players emerged onto the field hand in hand with children! WTF! Furthermore, once a match starts the players are colliding and climbing all over each other, plus they constantly spit on the grass. Some health guru suggested the other day that instead of shaking hands we should fist bump instead. What, this deadly virus breeds like wildfire on you palms but if it migrates to your knuckles it is instantly like the Norwegian Blue – this virus has ceased to exist!
I’ve lived through Sars, Swine Flu and god knows what other pandemics were threatened by the powers that be. None of them touched me, or anyone else I know. I recall about 4 or 5 years ago there was a scare about a flu bug that was described as “Super”. The Daily Record and the rest of the shite mainstrean media were screaming every day about another 100,00 cases of “Super Flu”. At one poinr they said so many doctors and nurses were catching it that the NHS was crumbling before our very eyes. Of course they were all agitatinf for the entire population to get the flu jab. The blackmail threat was, if you are such a lazy, uninformed, good-for-nothing rogue that you can’t be bothered to get the flu vaccination and therefore will be putting at risk those brave, upstanding citizens who did line up to get it … My first thought was, well, if the vaccine really works the people who got it have nothing to worry about.
During that time I had cause to visit my local health centre on a matter that had nothing to do with Super Mario, sorry, Super Flu. At the entrance to the health centre they had a large notice printed in blood red type saying, IF YOU HAVE A COUGH, COLD, ITCHY OR WATERY EYES, RUNNY NOSE, FEVER, CHILLS, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. DON’T COME TO THE SURGERY. PLEASE CALL IN AND WE WILL ADVISE YOU WHAT TO DO, My first thought on reading that pish was, “So that’s how they get 100,000 people a week infected with Super Flu!? Every moron who phones in with itchy eyes, runny nose, even an itchy arse is logged as a Super Flu victim. That’s how you spread panic among the mentally challenged, which, by the way, is a large proportion of the population.
One last point. When I was teaching in the late seventies and through the eighties and early nineties (if you are trying to work out my age I should warn you that I was a late entrant to the teaching profession so I’m a lot older than you think – I saw Charlie Tully play for Celtic) the AIDS epidemic went, no pun intended, viral. I was given a supply of videos (the old chunky Phillips videos) to make the students aware of the terrible HIV apocalypse that awaited them. I should reveal that back then I still kind of trusted authority, in spite of the lies about the two world wars, the political assassinations of the sixties, etc. Like most people I wanted to believe that those who rule over us, despite the “mistakes” they make have our best interests at heart. More fool me!
Anyway, on one particular episode of the officially government approved HIV IS COMING TO GET YOU AND THERE IS VIRTUALLY NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT a “medical expert” (yes, he was wearing a white coat and had a neatly trimmed moustache and beard plus really nice glasses, so he must have been a scientist) intoned in a very seriou voice that in five years time we would all know someone, a close relative, friend or casual acquaintance who had HIV, and if we didn’t that would mean we were already dead from the disease. WOW! You can’t get more scary than that. Now, almost 40 years later I haven’t caught HIV and neither has anyone I know in my direct family, large extended family, or my many friends. They’ve all had coughs, colds, flu, some of them have suffered the dreadful effects of pneumonia, cancer, liver and kidney disease, coronary problems, etc. But we have never seen hide nor hair of HIV.
I’m not saying that the Corona virus isn’t real. Maybe we’re all going to die. Who knows? But what I’m saying is that like Clive Dunn as Corporal Jones in Dad’s Army, we should be paying attention to his mantra, “Don’t panic! Don’t panic!”
One last observation. I have shopped in Tesco Riverside (my nearest Tesco store) for each of the last four days. I’ve read about panic buying in other parts of the world, where people fight over toilet rolls for god’s sake and empty the shelves. On my last four trips to Tesco (no, I wasn’t panic buying) I have observed multitudes of shoppers going about their everyday shopping needs. No panic buying, no empty shelves, people chatting, hugging, in some cases even kissing (arrest them immediately!) and generally getting on with their lives. Are the people of Scotland immune to hysteria or is it just the people of Dundee? When the Dundonians panic it’s time to bail out!
I should think that if there was ever a time for a Football Club to have in excess of £30m sat in the Bank it would be right now.
I mean to say how long can Celtic carry on as normal with an empty Stadium?
I should think a damn site longer than those who have nothing in the Bank.
In the words of Windsor Davies…Oh dear, how sad, never mind.
Unless they plan to start bringing bus loads of nursing home residents , immunosuppressed people , and those with severe respiratory conditions to football matches then realistically banning attending football matches will do SFA . Indeed stopping people attending open air matches won’t do anything to block the spread of influenza (which also has mortality each year if a similar level) respiratory syncitial virus, corona virus , tuberculosis and any other airborne transmitted illnesses.
Transmission is far more likely in a bus, a pub, a restarting, a church, a doctors waiting room , a shopping mall .Be sensible folks . Common sense is a gift , let’s use it.
The media (yourself included) are hyping this flu related virus out of all proportion..
Please refrain from adding to the hysteria.
Nicola Sturgeon on news today asking for money from UK Chancellor for Coronavirus.
She’s responsible for Scottish NHS and it’s funding.
Only the UK combined can fund the response needed. An Indy Scotland would bankrupt as economy takes the hit.
What happens when oil platforms get the virus. Asians do all the housekeeping out there.
Noted at least 9 SNP MSPs not standing in 2021. Brass necked not resigning some of them. Staying on the gravy train for a last feed.
Coronavirus will hit SEVCO hard. Straw on the camels back. Will SNP direct public monies to them?
Brent crude US$33.16 per barrel or half what it was last year. Almost rock bottom.
Oil companies almost at tax relief cap out to Government to keep producing. An independent Scotland living off oil is complete and utter lies.
Oil brought in about £3billiin last year in tax to exchequer, Scotland got £12.8billion from UK Government.
We would have more money if we were independent. We would have a proper response in place by now, you know like screening people getting off planes etc, you what the West minster gov is meant to be doing. Away and talk shite somewhere else. If we are underfunded it is because of the “UK” not the answer to it!
Screening people getting off planes is useless. It was debunked on question time last night. Too many false positives and false negatives. People have temperatures for numerous reasons. And infected don’t have temps.
You need help mate
What a load of utter tripe you come away with, only a fool would link the Coronavirus with scoring political points.You love talking Scotland down,by your logic how do countries of similar size such as Finland,Norway,Portugal,New Zealand,Irish Republic and some even smaller countries like Iceland cope in this big world while poor little Scotland with its food and drink exports, oil, gas and abundance of renewable energy,the games industry in Dundee plus 5 world class universities churning out skilled and talented graduates.
Scotland with its food, drink, oil, gas, gaming, renewables,….. still isn’t enough to cover what we spend. The annual deficit demonstrates that mmccartney you complete fool. If you think you’re going to pay for roads, NHS, policing, justice, 32 local authorities, ambulances, schools, colleges, universities, scottish defence, foreign office, home office, EU annual contribution, NATO Contribution, etc…. with oil, gas, food, drink, then you’re a buffoon SNP eejit.
SNP MSPs are leaving in droves because of their own disgraceful conduct, they know Indy is harmful to Scotland or sick of the fanatical controlling cult hierarchy.
spends more than what is given back from westminster you must mean
What a load of sh**e you now spout. In early 2013 I started reading your insight into all things you knew and a great read it was, full of factual info on what was happening. Stop, go back and re-read. What you gave us then was insightful, what you spew out now is utter pish, the “foreseeable future” get a grip Phil. Your’e not that far away from being the the James Traynor of published articles apropos Celtic.
The simple solution to your issue with this free-to-view content would be to stop reading it.
Goodbye.
“Foreseeable future.” A strange phrase to light on. Much of what Phil said there was bang on the money. It just didn’t go all the way through. People will gather in other, possibly more crowded, places, i.e. pubs and clubs to watch the games: IF THEY ARE TELEVISED. Emptying stadiums would only help if these establishments were also closed during games OR the games were NOT TELEVISED live.
Unfortunately, without any kind of public scrutiny there could be a major outbreak of honest mistakes and there’s far too many games still to be played.
If the title was mathematically done and dusted I’d feel much happier about stadium closures. I don’t think honest mistakes will be a factor in promotion or relegation battles.
The sevco sites appear to be full of hatred more than ever before . Their plan is for the weekend game is to aim as much dirt at the Celtic fans as they can for 90 minutes as well aim Coronavirus insults at our fans . These tea-cosy beanie wearers of the funny hats there are certainly no Bamber Gascoigne’s among them that’s for sure .
The Germans are worth £450m. They are going to destroy SEVCO. Goldston in defence lol. The German formation will be 0-0-10.
Morelos will never score a goal for Sevco again. They need to have other Strikers to rotate.
The Sevco players were playing for dropped points, amazing number of errors. Only Kent and McGregor are loyal to Slippy and Kent needed massive luck deflection to score.
Noted Mikey Stewart gets about one in six Sportscene gigs. Weekly income seriously depleted. All for the truth.
Ah the feelgood factor is out there once again this time to sooth the loss of Gilmour . Apparently sevco got more than the £400,000 from Chelsea for the youngster . But now it has been put out there that they got more than this and that it was closer to 1 million quid . As well as this since the boy has made a couple of first team appearances now this has triggered another add on payment . The press are now running with a story that Real Madrid and Barcelona are chasing the youngster and that sevco agreed with Chelsea that a 15% sell on clause as well . Now a fortune is on it’s way to sevco when the 2 Spanish giants enter into a bidding war to buy Gilmour after only 2 games . Classic fake news story to keep the gullibles happy . Funny how nothing like this was revealed when Gilmour left a couple of years ago when sevco board and their fans were not best pleased at losing an asset for a nickel & dime cross border fee and moaned about being chiseled out of a fortune .
Gilmour went for £550k. For a newly turned 15yo out of Scotland it was a high price. This was because there were zero add ons ad Sevco needed cash up front. King didn’t have a long term view. Cash was King.
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/4902276/billy-gilmour-rangers-chelsea-transfer-fine-fifa-investigation/
Gerrard’s days numbered. Majority players not working for him. Sevco need him there until after EUROPA League games.
20th March Gerrard and his 8 backroom staff off payroll. Saves two or three months wages for the nine of them. Murty back in the makeshift role.
Gerrard has been a disaster. Only a piece of deflection luck stopped dropping two points.
No corner turned.
A super massive investment for zero return. A Dud.
it would be churlish not to accept that he has done well in europe. they are in and we are out.
hard to believe they have gone further in the europa than we have.
There was a time when beating a Portuguese team home and away was a considerable achievement. However the standard of their league and their club standing in Europe, has fallen sharply over the last few years.
They still produce fabulous footballers but those guys invariably move to a league with more money very quickly.
They had four teams in the last 32 Europa League round. All went out. Of the eight games played Benfica managed a home win and were beaten away. The other three lost both legs.
Porto were rogered rigid by sevco’s next opponents and the other’s went out to no one of any great note.
The Klan now running with stories their captain is out with an injury . Aye right it’s probably with a sore lug after his PR blunder in the match programme before the Hamilton game . Let’s see how long he is out the team for with his fake injury. Oh and apparently on their forums they are looking for The Fat Controller to get his P45 because he did not do his job in proof reading what the captain was putting in the matchday programme. I suggest they keep fattie as he is Comedy Gold with what he feeds his pals in the press to get the fake stories out there .
Sevco’s massive debts on player registrations far outweigh what they are owed for players sold. Basically because they are owed nothing for anyone.
No amount of spin turns lies into cash. Or trophies won.
The Klan appear to be happy again today not because of the win but because Slippy had something to say to the 4th official about the treatment towards his players from the Ross County players . If this is what they take as a crumb of comfort from their failed manager calling out a 4th official no wonder their fans are as thick as everyone says they are .
Off topic here but what a way of CHISLING out a win today for sevco . No doubt Slippy would have been sitting with the huggies pull ups on ready to full them as the minutes ticked by . I see wee Coco at ibrox noise has totally washed his hands off morelos now . He no longer sees him as a 100 million pound player and wants him banished from the team altogether oh dear. I see as well as Robbie Fowler backing up the failing sevco manager the press have been bringing Lampard into the fold now to also back up the losing and trophyless manager . That’s 4 in a week they have wheeled out to talk this failure up . I wonder who we will get this week to talk him up after that remarkable win today . Oh and on that win today Rob McClean commentating on radio shortbread today put it out there is there anyway back for Ross County now . My God sevco got a goal by luck and possibly a deflection and he asks is there a way back for Ross County . You would think sevco went 4 up to listen to him .
McLean was sticking it to Ross County for not lying down and making it difficult for Sevco. How dare they nearly take two points off TRFC. It only makes managers and players double down next time.
With 12 minutes to go whoever was commentating on SKY said Kent has scored the WINNING GOAL.
Andy Walker I was hoping comment was going to come back to bite him
There is absolutely no need to worry a out contracting Novell Coronavirus within the confines of Ibrox Stadium – they dont have an Air Quality Improvement plan from the council, so attendees will just have to put up with the germs and viruses that currently pervade the air there.
A bit crazy, sitting in the open air to watch a game. If behind closed doors, Sky, BT broadcast then what happens with the masses squeezed into pubs, or are they to close too?
That’s actually a very valid point. Pubs are often already crammed for a big game. ANYONE who didn’t have SKY or BT would be sore tempted to head to their local. Personally, If I was younger, and still a regular attendee, and couldn’t get my weekly fitba fix, I’d take the risk.
I know Celtic TV don’t show games live in the UK. The main reason I’ve NEVER thought it was worth the money, but they should be able to work out a way to allow ST holders to watch games live.
I have said it before. Celtic have the facilities with Celtic tv to put a block on all their games with Sky/BT they should stop all live home games with every broadcaster. Then cut the huns allocation completely and let the huns pay Celtic if they want to watch us hammer them. The huns cant afford to do the same thing as any crum of guaranteed money off of Sky they have to take it being the beggars that they are
Lose out…. The ex goldman sachs banker has promised to cover anyone who loses money due to coronavirus
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-51790242
How, you might ask?
Quantatative thieving
They’re going to print more magicked up cash. This is juat a mechanism to rob the genetal populatuon
Will people dying of CV be happy to be robbed to bailout the feckless abs debt fuelled?
I hope not.
Ive said to you a few times a nassive down turn is coming, well its here and has the potential to make the 2008 Bank collapse look like a brownies picnic
These baulouts wont5be to help peopke, they’ll be to make sure the bankers, businesses and the rich dont lose out.
Will the free market tories do this… Ud wagwr yes.
Ultimately, we’ll see a currency collapse and civil stride.
The real dangerous virus can be traced to threadneedle street.
Is there a chance that some of the better-run football clubs in Scotland will have Business Interruption insurance?
Would be highly unlikely I think. Not something many football clubs would consider a realistic likelihood. They should give it some serious thought fo next season though. New viruses often mutate into something worse the following winter.