HibeeJibee

Though both Sturgeon and Leitch destroyed all messages, their WhatsApp discussions on Pub-gate/St Johnstone postponement intervention during those strange Aug 2020 days have been recovered from another party. For her Aberdeen were: "a complacent abomination" He felt: "I think postponing rewards bad behaviour" and: "cancelling and forfeiting points much more appropriate"

Getting in a right muddle on blanket indoor mask rules. Claims "there was nuance" e.g. no mask was fine if "standing politely" (who knew?). Here he is coaching then Health Secretary on get-arounds... 5 months before the requirement was abolished in Scotland:

Mens teams mostly play Saturdays but SPFL + SFA + pyramid authorities would never countenance part-time/amateur clubs saying they couldn't play on other days - let alone so for a cup final.

If clash is an issue why is the women national cup final to move, not the men regular league game? Why can't your players get time off for a national final - part-time/am men clubs don't just play Saturdays? (EDIT: indeed exactly the same scenario applies in reverse to the Challenge Cup whose final is invariably on a Sunday and most finals at non-league and amateur level are Friday or Sunday).

"the corporate director remarked 'plausible deniability is my middle name!' ".. "the Deputy MO, later Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, replied that he deleted at the end of every day to which his Clinical Adviser replied crying with laugher and thumbs up emojis"... "hope this isn't FOI-able!"... ""remember this is FOI recoverable: use clear chat"...

... skittling Wick v Brora.

That would be sensible... this season St Johnstone and Hibs brought forward their game from New Year to League Cup Final weekend? Of course half or more of the division is often involved in QFs tbf. Tbh you could argue that has been the case for a while... this year our League Cup groups start same weekend as Euro 2024 final - with our 5th placed side entering EL just 1.5 weeks after that.

Womens League Cup Final on Saturday and SPFL Trust Trophy on Sunday of an international weekend is very sensible. Gets more exposure but each avoids rest of the womens and mens cards respectively. Graham's plea for it to be moved; the fact they want to move the cup final (not a run-of-the-mill mens league game); and extra claim it must be on Sunday as some Partick women have Saturday jobs - also seems to run against recent efforts to treat the womens game professionally and on a par IMO? Nobody in the mens game would have suggested moving a cup final or even a regular league game as 1 person was double-booked... nobody would say their club had difficulties play matches outside of Saturday afternoon (indeed finals-wise only Scottish Cup's usually is). Issue having arisen, it just seems decidedly odd the "go to" is wanting a national cup final rescheduled - not rescheduling a regular league game. It'll be interesting to see which priority prevails. EDIT: btw if BBC don't obtain rights to Netherlands v Scotland friendly, then I could yet see them riding to rescue by choosing Arbroath v Partick for Friday night TV, to solve the womens issue.

Winter break abolished: SPFL confirms 2024-25 season starts on 3 August with no Premiership winter break - BBC Sport Key dates for Season 2024/25 | SPFL Rare outbreak of common sense... no justification for sitting about, jetting off abroad or playing friendlies while having to cram midweeks in either side. It also felt like a lot of Premiership sides were rusty in Scottish Cup over the weekend, albeit that's a boon to lower-league sides. With part of what was QF midweek being taken by UEFA, interestingly every round of the League Cup will now be played on weekends; this could mean a very stop-start opening half of season for some Premiership clubs (especially any eliminated in groupstage)... Sat 03 Aug Sat 10 Aug Sat 17 Aug no league games (League Cup R1) Sat 24 Aug Sat 31 Aug Sat 07 Sep no league games (international break) Sat 14 Sep Sat 21 Sep no league games (League Cup QFs) Sat 28 Sep Sat 05 Oct Sat 12 Oct no league games (international break) Sat 19 Oct Sat 26 Oct Sat 02 Nov 2 to 4 league games cancelled (League Cup SFs) Sat 09 Nov Sat 16 Nov no league games (international break) Sat 23 Nov Sat 30 Nov Sat 07 Dec Sat 14 Dec 1 or 2 league games cancelled (League Cup Final) Sat 21 Dec Sat 28 Dec

Airdrie v Hearts Inverness CT v Hibs Kilmarnock v Brora/Cove Partick v Livingston St Mirren v Celtic cannot be Friday 9th Aberdeen v Bonnyrigg Morton v Motherwell Rangers v Ayr Utd cannot be Monday 12th due to adjacent Premiership games

"I'm going to put you on the spot Christian - which 1 game stands out for you?" "Rangers v Ayr United".

Partick Thistle 2-0 Hibernian: Brian Graham pleads for date change for SWPL Cup final - BBC Sport Partick Thistle womens boss Brian Graham has pleaded with the authorities to change the date of the Scottish Womens Premier League Cup Final - to spare him having to choose between that and playing for their men's team. Thistle beat Hibernian 2-0 to set up a final meeting with Rangers on Saturday 23rd March - the same day that the striker would be expected to face Arbroath in the Scottish Championship. Linzi Taylor's free-kick and Rosie Slater's looping second secured Thistle's win against a Hibs side who played for more than half the game with 10 players after Leah Eddie's sending off. But as it stands, manager Graham could miss the final. "They have got to change it," the 36-year-old, who scored in Saturday's Scottish Cup win at Ross County, told BBC Alba. "We play on a Sunday all the time. It is just not possible for us to play on Saturday. "There is no way I am missing the chance to get to lead my girls out at a cup final."

% 3G pitches: 50% Lowland 42% SPFL (4 divisions) 32% West of Scotland (5 divisions) 25% South of Scotland 25% Midland Juniors 21% East of Scotland (4 divisions) 8% North Caledonian 7% North Juniors (2 divisions) 6% Highland

Ironically until St Andrews Agreement in 2006 - which DUP agreed - title of First Minister (depute's powers are identical) went to leader of largest bloc, not party. Unionists remain largest bloc (37 v 35 v 18).

Two Royal Navy warships collide off coast of Bahrain - BBC News Two Royal Navy warships collide off coast of Bahrain An investigation is under way after two UK warships collided at a port in Bahrain, the Royal Navy says. Video widely shared on social media appeared to show HMS Chiddingfold reverse into HMS Bangor off the coast in the Middle Eastern port. No-one was hurt in the incident, the Ministry of Defence said, declining to comment on the nature of the collision while investigations continue. The two ships are part of the UK's long-standing presence in the Gulf. Both are specialist minesweeper vessels, helping ensure the safe flow of trade through the waters, the Royal Navy said. Footage unverified by the BBC showed what seemed to be a large hole in the fibreglass hull of HMS Bangor following the crash. It is not the first time HMS Chiddingfold has been involved in such an incident. In 2021, also off the coast of Bahrain, it struck HMS Penzance, a ship of the same class as HMS Bangor. HMS Bangor is due to be decommissioned next year.

Looks increasingly unlikely Crossgates, Glenrothes, Luncarty and Kinnoull can manage more than fighting it out among themselves for 13th. That said several head-to-heads are outstanding, in which somebody is guaranteed to take points: Sat 03 Feb Crossgates v Glenrothes Sat 10 Feb Glenrothes v Luncarty Sat 17 Feb Kinnoull v Glenrothes Sat 16 Mar Luncarty v Crossgates (on Groundhop) no date yet Glenrothes v Crossgates, Kinnoull v Luncarty, Luncarty v Kinnoull If some of them can monopolise those contests and hit form then there are a lipsmacking 8 head-to-heads among bottom half in closing fortnight: Saturday 27th April Dundonald v Penicuik Glenrothes v Hutchison Vale Hill of Beath v Tynecastle Kinnoull v Crossgates Luncarty v Inverkeithing Saturday 4th May Crossgates v Dunbar Hutchison Vale v Hill of Beath Inverkeithing v Glenrothes Kinnoull v Broxburn Musselburgh v Dundonald Penicuik v Sauchie Tynecastle v Luncarty Saturday 11th May Broxburn v Crossgates Dundonald v Haddington Hill of Beath v Inverkeithing Jeanfield v Penicuik Kinnoull v Dunbar Luncarty v Hutchison Vale Tynecastle v Glenrothes

Dunbar 0-1 Cumbernauld Colts Kennoway P-P St Andrews Took myself up New Countess where a fierce contest saw the visitors first half strike - a rampaging charge from midfield well finished - see them through. Hosts had penalty shouts waved away, competed well, dominated last 30mins, and flashed header to force ET wide.

Gala 3-1 Luncarty Tranent 5-3 Jeanfield QFs: Dunipace v St Andrews Gala v Inverkeithing Tranent v Broxburn Dundonald/Haddington/Dunbar v Uni of Stirling/Harthill/Musselburgh Promising start and decent autumn has nor borne fruit for EOS in the cups this season... only Broxburn and Kennoway/St Andrews fly the flag in Last 16 of South Challenge Cup, while EQC has proven mixed bag v LL.

Heriot-Watt Uni 5-0 Dunipace Whitehill 3-0 Easthouses 'Pace taught a harsh lesson by the students while Welfare cruise a Midlothian derby.

That should be for the inquiry to ascertain and assess. Plus if they weren't talking government business: why concern about FOI? Everybody realises the idea they were just spitballing... or socialising about cats and the weather... is patently nonsense. It demeans the intelligence to argue that - up here, in Wales, wherever. Incidentally what seems to becoming their 'official' defence... that it doesn't really matter anyway as decisionmaking was conducted and recorded in formal meetings... spectacularly misses the point. We already know what the decisions were. Having minutes amounting to "the cabinet considered A, the First Minister proposed to do X and this was accepted" is pointless. They want to understand the dialogue and conclusions - beyond official emails - which 'informed' that rubberstamping. EDIT: it's especially relevant given impending decisions were so often leaked to the media, or even teed up by the First Minister herself in daily briefings, before the official meetings happened.

Afcon 2023: Tanzania suspend manager Adel Amrouche after eight-match Caf ban - BBC Sport Tanzania have suspended manager Adel Amrouche after he was given an eight-match ban by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The sanction was imposed after officials from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) contacted CAF to complain about remarks made by Amrouche. The two countries met in Group F at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday, with Morocco winning 3-0 after Tanzania had Novatus Miroshi sent off. A statement from the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) said it had suspended Amrouche after the coach's pre-tournament comments about "Morocco having influence in Caf, to manipulate the match scheduling and officiating". Amrouche had criticised the RMFF's influence over the African game before Afcon kicked off. Hemed Suleiman Ali has been placed in interim charge of the Taifa Stars, with the help of Juma Mgunda.

Alasdair Lamont commentating for BBC Scotland at Clyde v Aberdeen: "They're a club with a rich history Clyde - formed back in 1877 - but certainly in danger of losing senior league status next season as it stands".