Newspapers are an important part of democracy.
Their job is to report on the issues of the day, but also to take it further and ask questions, holding those to account in positions of authority and demanding truth, accountability and transparency.
One or two papers this weekend have not quite done that.
Yesterday, the Record, as mentioned in the diary, claimed that Bet 365 were not paying out on ante post betting on Celtic winning the league.
Oops…
Bet 365 said;
Hi, thanks for getting in touch, we have already paid out on Celtic for ante post outright bets placed up to and including 13th September 2019 as part of our League Winner Early Pay Out offer. Bets placed after this date will be reviewed once an official decision is made.
Which is not what the Record article claimed, as we saw yesterday. Their report was inaccurate and some may be tempted to think that they were desperately conforming to a narrative that served a portion of their readership in order to sell copies.
Newspapers need to sell copies, of course, but surely a better way would be to actually tell the truth. After all, if they are wrong on this one, then the reader may be tempted to think they are wrong on everything else.
Happily for the red top, I can confirm they did get the date right.
On a wider scale, the times today, discussing the remarkable inefficiency of the Westminster government made a shocking revelation today….
Regular diary readers will recall this…reproduced from the diary on March 19, which quoted the Guardian..
On 24 January, Chinese doctors and scientists reported the first description of a new disease caused by a novel coronavirus. They described how a strange series of cases of pneumonia had presented in December in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people and the capital of Hubei province. At that time, 800 cases of the new disease had been confirmed. The virus had already been exported to Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
Most of the 41 people described in this first report, published in the Lancet, presented with non-specific symptoms of fever and cough. More than half had difficulties in breathing. But most worryingly of all, a third of these patients had such a severe illness that they had to be admitted to an intensive care unit. Most developed a critical complication of their viral pneumonia – acute respiratory distress syndrome. Half died.
The Chinese scientists pulled no punches. “The number of deaths is rising quickly,” they wrote. The provision of personal protective equipment for health workers was strongly recommended. Testing for the virus should be done immediately a diagnosis was suspected. They concluded that the mortality rate was high. And they urged careful surveillance of this new virus in view of its “pandemic potential”.
and the dairy added…
Britian largely ignored the warnings, and when they did look at the problem, they made the wrong call about public safety.
Even now, some are blaming china for keeping it all a secret, but the warnings were made…in a respected British medical journal.
We’re about to find out just how wrong the government , and its advisors, actually were.
The Guardian and now the Times are pointing out the obvious, and yet it’s taken the Times more or less a month to catch up.
They may well blame the government, but the papers themselves need to look at their own part in this fiasco.
Mind you, according to the Metro, there may be something else to worry about….
The point is, or rather the question we should be asking, is why do we bother with newspapers at all ?
Information is readily available elsewhere, and less distorted by opinion based comment.
Regarding the current issues around Scottish football, the main one being the drive to make the SPFL look foolish somehow after over 80% of clubs voted to call a halt to the 2019-20 season is interesting.
The facts are, the clubs overwhelmingly voted for it, and so therefore it is going to happen.
However, one particular club was against it, coincidentally the one that the article about Bet365 was aimed at, and so we now have a continuous narrative that questions the legitimacy of the vote…
The Record in particular seems rather keen on this angle, and yet there’s no mention of the events of 2012, Resolution 12 or the five way agreement, all of which prove that those at the SPFL are not fit for purpose.
‘In Scotland chaos reigns’ How the world saw the SPFL vote
The decision to end the lower leagues early made headlines around the globe.
Gabriel Mackay claims…
Scottish football dealing with an international crisis was never likely to be straightforward.
Even by the standards of our national game the SPFL resolution to end the lower leagues early was a shambles.
Company line neatly toed, and establishing the “fact ” that the decision was a “shambles “..
First Dundee failed to cast a ballot and were left with a deciding vote, then Rangers accused the governing body of wrongdoing.
Hearts and Aberdeen have since added their voices to that, while Dundee eventually cast their vote and brought the lower leagues to a close.
It remains to be seen what will happen in the top flight, as the SPFL await UEFA guidance, but it appears likely the season could be declared over, crowing Celtic as champions.
Spain
Marca wrote : “Imagine for a second that all of the work of 42 teams, as well as the dreams and hopes of thousands of fans in the last nine months, depend on the vote of one club… and that this vote changes from being favourable to resuming the season to ending it outright in just five days. That’s what has just happened in Scotland.”
Depend on one club ? The other thirty four that voted for it might well have counted as well.
Italy
Gazzetta dello Sport were withering in their analysis of the SPFL resolution, in an article titled ‘ In Scotland chaos reigns ‘.
They wrote: “Among the many ways to get out of the impasse on the conclusion – or not conclusion – of the football leagues, Scotland stands out for having chosen the most chaotic: a complicated system of interconnected voting by the lower leagues, to later allow the governing body to extend the outcome to the Scottish Premiership.”
It’s acknowledged that “the haste to declare the season over comes from the need to provide aid to clubs that have been brought to their knees economically by the consequences of the coronavirus” but the newspaper concludes “the management of the whole operation left a lot to be desired”.
Thats not so bad a review, which shows that Mackay was getting desperate, as it praises the result if not the method. A pragmatist would say thats what matters.
United States
Sports Illustrated wrote : “Scottish football’s true self, it turns out to nobody’s great surprise, is farcically chaotic and riven with self-interest.”
They surmise: “This farce will drag on, and it’s entirely possible it will eventually be decided in the courts.”
Netherlands
Following Dundee’s decision to vote to end the season, Voetbal International said : “With Dundee’s decision a curious piece of Scottish football history has come to an end.”
It’s unlikely any of the magazines will have Scottish football correspondents, so they will take their information from Scottish newspapers…such as the Record.
For a moment, imagine you are writing for , say , Sports Illustrated , and you have to have a piece ready for tonight about Scottish football….here’s what you’ll find to work with…
The 4 Rangers demands to SPFL as Douglas Park steps up bid for independent inquiry
The Ibrox side aren’t happy with the governing body and have added Murdoch MacLennan to their hitlist.
SPFL internal inquiry is a shambles as we shoot ourselves in the foot yet again – Scott McDermott
Scott reckons it’s been a few years of mishap after mishap when it comes to those promoting the game.
Scott MacDermott is now an expert on all matters pertaining to our game, and his article perhaps gives a clue as to which portion of the market he is pandering to, or even belonging to…
It’s the 2016 Scottish Cup Final and there’s 10 minutes to go.
Hibs have just levelled to make it 2-2 with Rangers. The game’s a classic.
Hibs haven’t won the cup for decades, and “rangers ” haven’t ever won it…I added that bit, for extra drama.
The sun is shining at Hampden and at that very moment, our game feels alive again.
Both of these Championship clubs are on their way back under Mark Warburton and Alan Stubbs.
There’s even talk of Rangers attracting Joey Barton to Ibrox.
And in the Premiership, 24 hours earlier, Celtic had unveiled their new boss Brendan Rodgers at Parkhead.
What a coup that was.
For all intents and purposes, right there and then it felt like Scottish football was back on the map.
And sitting in the press box, I’d written a 900 word piece saying just that.
Fast forward a quarter of an hour. We’re now on the verge of a full-scale riot on the pitch.
Hibs fans are goading Gers supporters. Others are trying to swing punches and kicks at players.
Again, opinion dressed up as fact…
The police horses are on. Drunken, foul-mouthed yobs are trampling over us in a desperate bid to play their part in the madness.
All the while, my finger is firmly pressed on the delete button. The mother of all rewrites.
In the blink of an eye, instead of showing everyone we were on the up again – ugly TV scenes were being beamed across the world.
You felt for the jubilant Hibs players. They deserved the trophy and the legendary status that followed – but couldn’t even do a lap of honour after it.
It summed up our game as a whole.
Just when we think we might be getting somewhere, we’ve got an incredible habit of self-destructing.
Put it this way, if shooting yourself in the foot was an Olympic sport – Scottish football would be gold medallists.
And it happened again last week with the whole SPFL voting farce.
It started to eat away at itself and, once more, we were crowned champion navel gazers.
At a time when our game should be feeling positive about itself, we quickly managed to make it the laughing stock of Europe.
The Old Firm were both terrific in the Europa League this season.
In Neil Lennon and Steven Gerrard, we’ve got two big names, big characters in charge of our top two clubs.
The likes of Odsonne Edouard and Alfredo Morelos have set the place alight this term.
Half a term, in the case of Morelos.
And despite the Hoops’ big lead at the top of the Premiership, Rangers are at least competing again and providing a threat to Celtic’s dominance.
They’re not.
We had a Euro 2020 play-off game to look forward to against Israel under Steve Clarke, who’s revitalised the Scotland squad.
The whole picture looked bright. But now?
The shambles of Dundee’s missing vote, the brass neck of John Nelms and his subsequent u-turn, has darkened our door again.
And the impending financial meltdown at Ibrox…oh, he must have forgotten about that.
In the process, the men at the top plan to forcibly relegate one of our best clubs, Hearts, who still had plenty of time to get themselves out of trouble.
They’ve also shafted Partick Thistle, another of our institutions.
Sending them down to League One, with a game in hand and just a point behind Queen of the South, is completely unfathomable, even now.
And we had the ridiculous scenario of Raith Rovers celebrating a title win even though they were only a nose in front of Falkirk – and facing an away trip to the Bairns on the last day.
But all of this was rushed through, with the sweetener of reconstruction talks.
Rushed ? Clubs had 28 days to vote on it.
Putting Ann Budge and Les Gray in charge of the taskforce to make sure everyone is looked after – shows that you can’t mark this lot with a blow torch.
There are a few people you couldn;t mark with a blow torch….
Best of luck with the 11-1 Premiership vote and Sky TV talks to push through a bigger top flight – you’ll need it.
But knowing this mob, they’ll probably just tinker with their rules halfway through to make it happen.
Then, of course, we had their laughable suggestion of an internal investigation.
And their demand for any evidence Rangers might have that dares to call their integrity into question
But why would any club produce that for an investigation being conducted by the very organisation that’s under scrutiny?
Er, to show that they are right, and not just chucking their toys out of the pram because they didnlt get their own way, and have to choose between a fifteen point deduction now, which means they can;t play in europe, or fifteen points next season, which will assure ten in a row. Both equally unforgivable by their only revenue stream …their fans ?
The problem the Ibrox club have, is that it’s now a Catch 22 for them.
Yes, it is. But not the one you are outlining.
They’ll only give up evidence of wrongdoing if they get the independent inquiry.
Usually, to charge someone with wrongdoing, evidence is required….
But without the backing of other Premiership clubs, like Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs, they’ll struggle to apply enough pressure on the SPFL to get one.
Again, it just proves that the likes of Neil Doncaster and Murdoch McLennan believe they’re capable of getting away with just about anything.
Just because no one else agrees with the Ibrox entity, the SPFL are getting away with something no one else thinks they’ve done ?
Quick, tell the peasants how much he’s on…that normally gets them onside…
Maybe that’s why they can command – in the chief executive’s case, certainly – a salary of almost £400k a year.
You can’t help feel that while clubs understandably plead poverty during this coronavirus crisis, that money couldn’t be better spent elsewhere.
Ibrox ?
Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed last week that he won’t be ‘proposing’ a self-imposed wage cut – because he’s ‘working really hard’.
Maybe Neil and Murdoch feel they’re doing the same.
The whole episode continues to stink out Hampden’s sixth floor.
Gerrard summed it up perfectly, in front of millions of TV viewers, by rightly claiming that if you get to mark your own homework, you’ll always finish top of the class.
A line repeated, almost word for word, by Ally McCoist on Talkshite Radio, and now repeated here by MacDermott, Repeated often enough, anything can become fact….
God knows what players, coaches and pundits down south must think.
In fact, talking of homework, anyone thinking of moving to Scotland’s top flight will probably have second thoughts once they’ve swotted up on this latest debacle.
Wages don;t come into it, or the weather, or the glamorous competitor down south…
Even Gerrard must be thinking if he really wants to be part of it.
And there it is…the get out of jail free card enabling Gerrard to walk away and blame everyone else..
He’s labelled the league he operates in a ‘mess’ and that was the Rangers boss being polite.
A mess ? Well, he’s the expert, especailly sonce Christmas
Gerrard might not have called everything right in the Ibrox dug-out since he arrived as manager.
But it hasn’t taken long for him to suss out these self-serving SPFL cronies – and get his assessment of them bang on.
Again, opinion as fact.
So, if you are about to write about Scottish footabll from afar, for a magazine such as Sports Illustrated, what would yo write ?
And in effect, you’d be merely re-inforcing the Record narrative, who would then claim that you are re-inforcing theirs….
Yesterday, we had this…
Henkesdreadlocks was looking over his shoulder….
Today…
Parks of Hamilton reluctantly admitted pumping money into Ibrox may have affected the standard of Coach they providided
Caption: Everyone was having a great time until the hats conspiracy guy started.
Caption: Hitler’s audition for Driving Fräulein Daisy ended badly.
Caption: “Driver,next stop Pizza Express, Woking….tally ho “
“Put it this way, if shooting yourself in the foot was an Olympic sport – Scottish football would be gold medallists”.
On that criteria, surely we would get the silver?
Caption : ‘The back o’ the bus cannae sing, cannae sing……’
The Rangers ‘Brake Club’ organise a group of volunteers, to conduct a search for William Wilton on Rannoch Moor, where he had earlier confided to Bill Struth that he was; “Going out for a pleasant dander”.
virus fc are using the pandemic to clean oot the big hovel in ther zombified eyes celtic winning the title on league positions is the same as the ebt years they are gonny suck this virus dry fookem
The Cabinet exercising social distancing as they visit the PM at Chequers !
caption afore henke starts castin any aspertions thats no ma auntie jesse sittin alang fae adolph he he
I was thinking about that.
Caption…….
Johnson’s motor car, just before it got jacked.
Johnston’s!
Is it really? Dr Henry Johnson was the chaps name I think you’ll find.
Doctor Henry Maturin Johnston…i think you’ll find!
.
Caption, “yes officer, we all live together”
Caption……..
Did you know, back in the day, there were dogging teams.
Here we see the South Croydon Gangbang team on an away day to the Royal Tunbridge Wells Heavy Breathers.
Caption
I’ve been driving in my car, it’s not quite a Jaguar
I picked It up at half past three,
Then got all the family.
I bought it from john parks you know
And Stevie g ,he said let’s go.
Were off to hampden ,lets be on time,
Cause we’ve got to stop the nine.
But some clubs ,have done it again,
How we gonna stop the ten
Caption
The wan from Dundees noo got a hat, turncoat, as end the season charabang moves along.
The hysteria from the blue corner with its coat tail followers is hysterical. The stupidity of their stance goes well with the stupidity of the SPFL.
Have stopped reading the trash, as all you get is bias and lies, Budgie should be a comedian, if her and fat boy got together what a double act. As for Sally his analogy of unfairness and homework, revolves around a choccy Bicky, probably all he thinks about.
As we head for next season who will be left to challenge Celtic, that is the question?
really intrigued about whats behind gerrard on the sideboard. a 1950,s telephone etc can you find out what the story is there?
Guy driving says ‘If we hadn’t lost the war,again,I would still be in charge of the Luftwaffe….mind you,my new boss Mr.Parks assures me he is a right Hun’…..
Most Celtic supporters I would think do not pay any attention to the MSM. They the media selt the jersey’s with their constant drivel about Scottish football, no, let the hard of learning get their “Rangers” fix and aspiration from them. They ceased to have any relevance after the pictures of coffins and such in 2012, only to change the narrative later. We all know that the governing bodies of Scottish football too lost any relevance or sympathy when they tried to keep the Huns alive to the point of lying and destroying honesty and integrity in Scottish football in the process, ably assisted by the Celtic board. Res.12 and the secret agreement, the SFA. orchestrated Lord Nimmo Smith commission with its bizarre verdict. They did it before, they must not be allowed to do it again.
Les Gray- Hamilton, has described the claims of bullying and coercion as hysterical nonsense. 81% of the clubs are in favour of the SPFL’s decision, the narrative that he describes by “Rangers”- Hearts- Aberdeen, is utter tripe, but hardly suprising coming from the most hysterical and bullying of clubs. Their self interest is what help keeps Scottish football in the dark ages. The proof that Parks has alluded to is still not forthcoming, perhaps because it too is utter tripe.
I’d go easy on the Northern Loon from Aberdeen, as there’s a lot of media spin on what he actually said.
He’s far from being one of the lunatics (despite being a Loon) who have called for sacking/suspensions/inquiries.
What he said was that he’d support a call for an inquiry and that’s exactly what Doncaster et al would say if enough clubs call for it.
At the moment its only a small cabal who want to avoid their football determined fate (hated rivals winning title, relegation, not getting promoted) despite media trying to make it out to be a mass movement.
I understand that and know that because of his stance he is being tacked onto the other two bullying, sqeeling weans.
But still he could have dealt with Doncaster in house, yet still he allowed himself to be publicly aligned with the other two. It still sticks in my craw about his attack on Celtic player Kris Ajer and asking the compliance officer to investigate him after Cosgrove’s red card.
Fair do’s and I’m sure it’ll all come out in the wash.
I read it like the “Yes” side being reasonable to the other side’s pain.
Compare and contrast with other side (big and wee huns, in and oot of the big hoose) perpetual tantrums.
I wish I was a green feathered budgie sitting on the shooder of Budge when she read Gray’s comments today. The Witchita lineman would be busy repairing the line from the comments between her and Park’s, calling him everything under the sun. A small GIRUY. victory for the SPFL.
Correct!
On what planet is the team at the bottom of the league after so much of the season has been played one of the best clubs?
Caption:1937 and Larkhall Loyal refuse to tip Adolf the supporter’s bus driver as he sounds a bit of a lefty.
Thank fuck!
Caption: Didn’t we have a lovely time the day they liquidated.
A beautiful day,no to a CVA,
Craig Whyte’s for just a pound you know.
Now they’re ‘on the way back’ wi’ talent like Jack so I’ll open a bottle of cider
Singin’ a few of our favourite songs as the wheels fall off.
CAPTION.
Charabanc tour of the battlefields of Bannockburn, Langside, Hampden and Govan.
Newspaper revenues come printing what people want to hear not necessarily the truth.
Try putting from in there somewhere you blithering idiot.
Caption….it that Morelos New motor?
Herald today asking people to buy the paper. Nope. Pat “Uncle Tom Bonnar and the usual suspects fail to ask Hamilton Chief Executive anything around why reconstruct and why now. As the diary says, they are constructing a narrative and now believe it the truth.
The SPFL was formed to end sevco`s conditional membership.
probably for the best ha ha
have the chinese mi5 invaded the saiz loft …………………we should be told
Mi flive
Mhon the upthumbers!
Is that Melba toast?
And no one is talking about the 2nd 3rd wave!. History tells us all the way back to the cyprian, the Justinian plagues these things come in 3s. Already! The talk is of unwinding, just mental.
Trump has nothing but self interest at heart, he must be losing millions per week over this. Think about how he makes his money for a second.
The real story?, why is it that all “essential workers” in the so called developed country are at the low end of the social economic scale? .
They ( me) keep working and they assured, ( no me yit) keep dying.
Trump should be shot ,boris jailed along with those who dawdled and those on WHOs,
Frankly ? The fitba kin wait.
The initiative of others is what they twine to as their own.
We are the False Peepil.
PS: Sorry for being a dribbling dick the other night.Stay safe.
PPS: Willo Flood`s a Legend.
Caption:
Sevco deny cutbacks have affected quality of recruits for next season’s squad.
No, that’s what some bloggers, not you, do. Some bloggers report the actual truth of things irrespective of their own narrative. You know the establishment narrative around Bloody Sunday or Hillsborough or Brexit or blaming the Chinese government for their abject failing in this.
How did HENKE get to win with some ARTWORK..I smell somethin fishy ..! lol
At his age, fishy is the norm.
Last Of The Summer Wine had some great props back in the day , Before the budget was cut to a bath an episode
Lord Lucan is the only one without a hat
After years of using the rhythm method , Mrs Smith and the family take Mr Smith to get his tubes tied.
In the Early years , Formula 1 was a different game….
Exclusive pic of the last time rangers won a trophy
Mare missing posts than Wembley 77
Don’t worry about it CS, very shortly the nukes will be flying left right and centre. Your man Trump will see to that. Similarly to the crowd in Govan, he’ll adopt a scorched earth policy to try and hold on to power in Yank land. Coronavirus will be the least of our troubles.
Bacofoil Bhoy on learning that Bojo and his Bullingdon Boys disastrous policies and inactions has led to thousands and will possibly lead to tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths…
“err, hm, err, bats, Chinese, Wuhan, labs, bioweapons” etc ad naseum. FACT-less.
There is a bio weapons factory in Wuhan.
“I’m not in love” thought Scott Gardiner as he ignored the space where Williamina should’ve been occupying.
Went on the john james site,what a idiot,he can,t even get the trumpton bhoys names right.disrespecting the wee firemen in times like this as well,he had better watch or wee windy miller may put a hit on him,oi the twins pugh and pugh,i heard they are crazy,he may have to go into hiding,oops,wait a minute ,Heh Heh
Caption:- Lord Lucan brazenly slips away making no attempt to blend in with the other hat wearers.
Where are all the transfer stories? Ooh-la-la, they seem to be moving towards French Fancies, as long as the players aren’t merde and fight for the cause then who cares. Be nice to dig up a field and find another Larsson. Tatties call, nearly planted after that the nose hairs will take a hell of a beating!
Caption: Prince Charles’ friends hasten to their Scottish rural retreats to avoid the shutdown policies which surely, apply only to the most common of commoners…Free Covid tests await them, as well as claret and succulent lamb! This caption will NOT appear in any British newspaper.
Caption: Is it no about time the Neil Lennon CSC got a new tarrier carrier?