Big Ally
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Posts posted by Big Ally
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On 12/04/2024 at 01:45, GordonS said:
The SFA should have learned from what the WSL clubs have been doing - playing at smaller home stadiums and taking occasional bigger matches to the club's main ground, with the number of those matches increasing as the support base sustains it. That's how Arsenal have got their average attendance up to 35,000 despite a lack of success on the pitch. They also do clever stuff like Emirates-only season tickets and early purchase discounts.
IMO we should be based between Firhill and one of the Edinburgh grounds - you always get the best crowds where the most people can walk or make a short bus or train journey - and take the bigger games to Hampden, creating more of a buzz around them. The aim would be over time to have more and more games at Hampden.
The SFA should also have learned from the SRU that making tickets free for season pass holders/ members for men's games is a mistake. It devalues them and leads to hundreds of tickets being taken and then not used.
Obviously the big crowds England gets are because of their successes, but also because of their branding, all the 'Lionesses' stuff. I think the huge mistake the SFA makes is trying to attract existing football-watching men to the women's games. The sad reality is that the vast majority of people in the UK who attend women's football games at all levels are female. At the England v Scotland game in Sunderland it was really noticeable in the crowds before and after the game that there was far more women than men, and excluding men on their own, I only saw two guys who weren't going to the game with women. I didn't see any other male-only groups, and after I first noticed it I was looking for them. The FA's marketing around the women's team is more aimed at women.
One weird thing is that the atmosphere at women's football internationals is much, much worse than women's rugby internationals, even allowing for ground sizes. I think the main difference is that female players go en masse to the rugby games, you see whole squads at a time in their club hats and training gear. They drink a lot of beer and make a lot of noise. The SFA works to get girls' clubs to Hampden, but not women's.
And your last point - I see a lot guys saying they don't watch women's football like it's a different form of football. They'll travel across the country for a tenth-tier men's game or follow an eye-bleedingly terrible Scottish club and then complain about the standard of women's internationals. I used to try to persuade them but my opinion now is that they're a lost cause and they'll never get past the sex of the players. The target audience is younger people and women.
Think you are overthinking the problems and solutions GordonS.
Its quite simple ,the team have been really boring to watch and the manager is hopeless.
Until these two major issues are remedied ,unfortunately, very few supporters ,men AND women,will feel the urge to turn up at Hampden..0 -
Another woeful performance .So slow ,everything played back to defenders, no sign of any tactics or rehearsed moves .
Pay off Pedro NOW because there is no way we will qualify with him in charge . The girls heart is not in it ,even someone like Big Brian Grahame would get a better performance out of the squad ..
A crowd of 3000 tonight , doubt if many will be back without a change of leadership .Crowds were around 10000 when Pedro took charge..
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Think you are being a bit hard on Kim Little .
Arsenal’s Kim Little retired from Scotland duty 2 months after ex Arsenal coach Pedro M L got the Scotland gig . I suspect Kim knew what the next 3 years under that management would bring .
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I used to enjoy watching the women’s national team 3 or 4 years ago . Since Pedro arrived we have gone into total decline .
Oh for a bit of the early long ball game instead of faffing about pretending we know how to trap a ball .
I lasted an excruciating half then turned on to Flog it , much more entertaining (and I don’t even like Flog it).
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Have to agree ,why is the government in Westminster only picking on football and not rugby ?They probably figure a large proportion of rugby fans are Tory voters so don’t want to antagonise them . Increasingly when I am travelling in the train on a Saturday when a rugby international is on the fans are boarding with major carry outs in contravention of Scotrail rules .Many are well blootered when they get off and the women are usually the loudest . With bars in the ground they hang about Edinburgh longer and are well pissed on the return journey and can be a proper nuisance .
Also ,why is it ok for Westminster to impose English football bus rules on Scotland but not to impose the English rules on allowing bars in the grounds ?
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Leighton certainly played well against the Swedes BUT he was also a total nightmare that day as anyone at the game will remember. He struggled to reach the half way line with his kicking ,so the ball was coming straight back into our box . Good keeper but awful with dead balls and clearances .
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Marshall has been pretty ropey recently at Hibs . Reasonable shot stopper but flapping at cross balls .
I wouldn’t bring him back for Scotland ., Clark for one is a much better keeper .
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Yup ,another shambolic performance . Chaotic when put under pressure at the back ,lacking creativity and composure in and around the opponents box . Very slow build up ,too many passes backwards or sideways . Didn’t think it was possible but Pedro has taken us backwards from the latter Shelly Kerr era . We have 6 or 7 excellent players but they are not playing to their full potential while the rest of the squad look bang average , that’s despite the SFA flying them to all sorts of diddy wee tournaments ,at great expense , to try to develop an effective style of play .
Am beginning to agree that they have a brass neck moaning about not being flown to tournaments in private jets and put up in five star hotels .
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Good point from Kirkie ,until Shelly Kerr had her meltdown in France the team were flying .
Can’t say the same now .Recently team have been turgid to watch . Doubt if they had more than a couple of shots on target at home to Eire , with their best player playing far too deep . It must be costing the SFA a fortune to put on their matches at Hampden ,with very little income coming in .
I’m not sure exactly what the players are after, is it equal pay with the men ?
I don’t think the men take a wage ,but some of the women don’t earn much so perhaps they should be given a modest match fee .
If it’s hotels and transport they are complaining about ,Steve Clark told the SFA exactly what he wanted so surely it’s up to the womens manager to sort that out with the SFA,not some high court judge.0 -
Tony, my point is that £25 for a Hibs v Hearts semi final seat behind the goals is a decent price .
Cant find the County ticket stub but found one for Hearts v Rangers ,Wheatfield stand Sunday 23rd October 2011
Price £29. That must be £40 at today’s prices .
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Hearts have got a bloody brass neck complaining about semi final prices, I am sure we paid about £30 for seats behind the goal 3 years ago at Tynecastle when we went there with the County . Ticket prices at Hampden behind the goals will actually be £5 cheaper than we paid .Are Hearts trying to say that Hearts v County is a bigger draw ?
My mate has just told me that Hearts want £31 for a visitors ticket for the league derby , and by the way have you seen the price of pint in the centre of Edinburgh these days , makes the semi final tickets look a total bargain !0 -
I think McLeish did make a few important points that need to be acted on if the National team are ever to be a force again .
He says SFA are not fit for purpose with a committee system 40 years out of date .
What exactly does Ian Maxwell do but grovel at the feet of the Premier League clubs , he was too frightened to even ask the clubs to move fixtures to help Steve Clark prepare for Israel . As for our grandly titled President Petrie , does anyone know what he actually does or has done to benefit Scottish football, has anyone heard him speak or set eyes on him since he took up the post ,does he even exist or is he a cardboard cutout?0 -
Was at the Hibs game last Wednesday, again very frustrating,we last 2 goals from corners where Doidge and Jackson scored with headers in at the unguarded post . Seems like we have lost too many goals this season with nobody guarding the post at a corner .
When I played with the local team we always had someone on each post, throw in a goalkeeper and there isn’t much space to get the ball in the net . Am I missing something here, or are County not set up correctly at corners ?
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Too many guys looking for fault on this site ,,we get ripped off every week watching shite in the Scottish leagues but still cough up.
I paid £29 for a 0 0 draw at Tynecastle earlier in the season .
By comparison £15 for our biggest game for years is a total bargain and you get your money back from the membership if you go to most of the home games with the 5 quid discount. Seems to be a lot more consideration for the fans compared to say 4 years ago.
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The strip looked fine to me ,admittedly from half way up the North stand .
Dont think the SFA have any input into the design , met an Adidas rep at an away game years ago, he said the national associations have minimal say in the design of the final strip produced .
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2 hours ago, 54_and_counting said:
The fact that fraser and mctominnay didnt start both games is ridiculous, while they are hungry young players scotland should be starting them every game they fit and available
We were told were told on plane home that both Forest and Fraser wouldn't last 90minutes, must have picked up small knocks against Cyprus.
Good move to rest McTonninay against Cyprus ,apart from few mins at the end . He was always going to play the full game against Belgium and he did tire badly towards the end . Good management of the player, but I do agree with you that generally McTomminay should start .
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Just back from Belgium, there has been a big change in the atmosphere since the last game out in San Marino . Everyone I spoke to seemed to have great faith in Steve Clarke turning it round . Considering the fact Belgium are on a different planet ,and our weakened team , we all thought the players did fine . A good shape to the team ,they all seemed to know what their role was ,and fewer errors , yes the goal on halftime was a sickener and I know Belgium missed a few .
On last nights evidence we probably have a 40% chance of qualification through the playoffs in March, whereas if they had kept McLeish on the chance of qualification was zero .
Not seen the highlights yet but from our vantage point Fraser, McTominnay,McLean look good for the future , Marshall some cracking saves but his distribution is awful.
Pretty confident that better times lie ahead .
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6 hours ago, Burnie_man said:
Malky Mackay isn't the man for the job regardless of what he done in the past - and he should be allowed to move on from that.
Go and speak to Clarke now and if he is interested, confirm him on Monday 20th May when Killie's season is over. If he isn't interested, then open it up to applications (although that could potentially be a long drawn out clusterf*ck)
Spot on Burnie !
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Give Steve Clark the job with a start when the season ends .
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Mystified ,why do we need MacKay as a temporary manager?
Its almost the end of the season so a permanent appointment of someone like Clark would cause minimal disruption to their club .
Having read Malkys comments that got him kicked out of Cardiff, there is no way he can be given such a high profile position even if it is temporary . It would be a National embarrassment .
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Euro 2025
in Womens Football
Posted
In 2019 they were obviously better to watch than today , 18,500 turned up to watch them play a FRIENDLY against the mighty Jamaica .