Che Dail

They're not the only ones. 'Professional' clubs with no drainage on the pitch to deal with a wee bit drizzle. it's supposed to be a licencing requirement - they need to have a look at that. It puts others that maintain their parks at a disadvantage because home matches just now come only with cost: Ref / Linos / floodlights / Utilities etc etc and no income. That is, until the New Year, no doubt, when paying supporters are allowed back in and all the soggy pitches, miraculously, are playable again.

I've not been west of Harthill for the best part of nine months btw so you're barking up the wrong tree with that as well. Just because I respect the WoS league decision to allow individual clubs to make an informed choice without punishment, and to listen to and respect the view of clubs such as Auchinleck and Pollok, doesn't mean I have anything to do with the organization. I could also say that I think the Finnish prime minister is doing a great job - but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm from Helsinki.

Right, at work, one of your managers travels from Glasgow and another from Stirling. In your football environment, there are no travel restrictions at all because of this 'pro' exemption. I'm not sure exactly what liberty this supposed 'dictator' is depriving you of that you feel so hard done by. Your argument is contradicted of course by your own preference towards a unified approach with England.. yet they're currently in full lockdown until December 2nd and non-league football is on hold. But presumably Boris isn't a mad dictator, though, in your eyes? Just... baffling...

That's great Alan. While you're at it, go and read up on Adolf Hitler and explain why you think it is acceptable to compare Sturgeon to him.

72% is greater than half... maths not your strong point either, I take it? Interesting that you are more upset about a comparison between Sturgeon to Mandela than Thatcher to Pinochet. Note that this assessment is from the independent Political Compass, and not something I've made up. It is derived from statistical analysis based on decision making and policy... and not from your shrieking observations which are most likely taken from The Sun or Daily Mail. Didn't Thatcher brand Mandela a terrorist? I read this week that she wanted to run the Yorkshire Ripper murder enquiry because she didn't think the police were up to it.

erm... no, they don't actually, they differ greatly. Thatcher was Authoritarian / right wing, more in common with Pinochet and Mussolini; whereas Sturgeon is Libertarian / Left of centre... closer to the Nordic Model, say, or even Mandela, when it comes to his politics. Anyway, good Tier 4 restrictions thread this turned out to be.

Eminem? Jack Nicolson in A few Good Men?

Do you type with boxing gloves on? Bet you go through a few keyboards a year. None of them made in Great Britain.

Nicola Sturgeon has about 72% approval rating for her Government's handling of the pandemic. There's not been much opposition in recent elections, hence the position of power. Seeing as you mention bad Tories, it is 30 years to the day Margaret Thatcher resigned... I mean what harm did she or any of her successors do to Scotland...?

more whataboutery - is playing football at this level essential? No

Alan Camelon would keep playing through that. Man up.

See this article - Doubt there many better run non-league clubs than Bonnyrigg Rose and they acknowledged the frail position they could be in this season. The comments cannot be ignored and would apply to most other clubs at this level: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/we-have-zero-income-bonnyrigg-rose-feel-fan-lock-out-could-cripple-chances-full-lowland-league-2999139

The vast majority of players in the East of Scotland League will be Amateur or Non-Contract, and none of them will be professional in the true sense of the meaning, i.e. engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime. I'd be surprised if many of the EoS Premier clubs with players on pro-contracts can keep up with minimum wage requirements, seeing as there are no gate receipts, season tickets, sponsor income down etc.

...based on a spurious definition of 'professional' put forward by the League who lobbied for it. There was an opportunity to say, 'c'mon guys, nobody really thinks this is professional sport - we've told a wee white lie here to push it through. Some clubs are struggling and players are still getting changed outside in the wet and the cold. Let's take a break for a couple of months and hopefully the supporters are allowed back in, and the regions are at safe levels." But no.

No it doesn't. So your justification is that the league must proceed because some clubs have spent money to improve their changing rooms? Nobody forced them to do that, it was their own choice, presumably because they could afford to. The whole country is being asked to make sacrifices right now, but you say 'no', because some clubs have already won games of football? And that's more important than anything else. Very good.

Completely agree with you on this - it puts real pressure on individual clubs who now have a very difficult decision to make. Pausing the season would have harmed NOBODY, but this was not a choice on offer. The moral compass is swayed in favor of 'it would be wrong not to promote or relegate a club' . that seems more important than preserving the season for everyone, instead of making an informed decision based on moral, financial and public health grounds. There is no option other than a 'survival of the fittest' scenario being put forward by those in authority. So, realistically, who is going to go against that? There are indeed penalties for withdrawing, and also a subtle suggestion that there may be sanctions against clubs who fail to meet changing room requirements (but not if a landlord decides not to make changing rooms available on behalf of a club). Bizarre thought process, with priorities skewed - so very disappointing.

Ah but if you wear your Camelon Juniors tammy hat and pin-badge you're pretty much invincible. Is as good as a vaccine. Gets you into care homes, social clubs, the gym - wherever you want, it's a free pass in the name of professional football. You can't catch the COVID because it doesn't exist, and the polis just wave you though: no fines

Are you Donald Trump?

They quite simply should not have started back when they did. What harm would it have done by waiting until the New Year? But no, all giddy with excitement at playing football as if life depends on it, but with no income, no supporters, no changing rooms and putting people at risk. Totally senseless and reckless.

No, they are protecting the clubs and the league organization - basically saying, "If you're daft enough to run your business giving away the product for free, and put your members at risk of contracting and / or spreading a deadly virus, knock yerself out, we certainly won't be held responsible for killing your club or your members". Same with the South of Scotland League and the SJFA, to an extent.

In what way? If you mean the decision to allow clubs to withdraw from the league without penalty then this, to me, is showing leadership. Listen to members, hear their financial and public health concerns, and act in the best interests of the League (and the country) collectively and individually. That's what leaders are appointed to do on a board - to make the big decisions. Not palming off responsibility onto a vote and going along with the smallest majority, to the detriment of half of the membership, potentially forcing clubs to the wall.

They started off in the bottom tier, which is where they were before they quit (on minus 3 points) and presumably this is what would happen to any club deciding to withdraw now, albeit in quite difference circumstances. This season it could have been the actual bottom tier along with new entrant clubs and I don't think anyone could have had cause for complaint if that was the case. But instead the majority voted to have another bash at a further season of conferences, effectively scratching the previous season entirely. The clubs being punished now by forcing them to play without normal revenue streams (eg the better supported Premier league sides) are the ones who operate as businesses. They rely on income, and this is an entirely reasonable and normal expectation for anyone wanting to operate a business, or at least one that is sustainable. It is these clubs that the rest of the members owe their collective status as 'professional' - shoogly definition or not. It would be a travesty if any club was relegated to the bottom tier, alongside the aforementioned Eyemouth, for example, as a consequence of having to withdraw now.

From the league? Not without punishment / relegation - nobody was given that choice. Instead, everyone must soldier on. For some, potentially, into the abyss. The categorization of football as being 'professional' and 'essential' at this level is laughable. I'd be surprised if there is a single professional footballer, using the actual dictionary definition of the term (and not simply because somebody gets £50 - £100 a week on a pro contract), in the whole of the East of Scotland League. Most likely only T1 and T2 clubs will employ professional sportsman, i.e. where that is their main full-time job and only source of income.

There is none - self interest prevails yet again. Some clubs said they'd last 6-8 weeks without income at the gate, but the majority ignored that plea - a very poor show.

"Will you sanctimonious morons and boneheads keep the personal insults to your inbred selves" Oh dear