After nearly two months experience of our new shiny Forum platform, it has significantly failed to impress users at SFM who have – almost from day one – hankered for a return home to the familiar blog format.
Of course we wanted to give the new format as much time as possible to bed in, and to give our members as much time as possible to get used to it also.
Just as deciding to have a child is never a solution for a broken marriage, it seems that neither was our decision to give birth to our own new baby to boost the popularity of the blog.
So we are back to where we we were, but we will be updating the look of the old place soon. In fact we would have done so before re-opening the blog, but there was such a clamour for an early return (in private messages and emails) that we decided to take the leap now.
We hope the return to familiarity will make more of us happy than disappointed – but SFM will evolve and survive.
One of the obvious indications of the new format’s unpopularity has been the almost invisible response (compared to previous times) to our Winter appeal for funds. Perhaps we should have completed that before moving to the new Forum, but after six weeks of fundraising, we have raised only around £200. In a similar period last year we raised nearly £1800.
So I hate to make the first blog leader of the re-launched SFM (in part) an urgent appeal for funds, but that is where we are today. We have agreed to write off the cost of the new Forum software (may even make some use of it in the future), but we still need some assistance to keep the show on the road. In keeping with that aim we will keep the Winter Appeal running for another couple of weeks in the hope that we can recover. We will send an email to everyone about that in the next few days.
In the meantime, there are a multitude of things going on the game at the moment which should be a worry to all fans. Rangers as we know are still a financial basket-case, but with their huge salary bill, Celtic have slid from a position of financial dominance to unprecedented (in recent times) losses.
Covid has changed our routines, our workflows, our leisure and shopping habits, and our expectations not just of our football clubs, but our own daily existence.
The recent SFA report on child abuse has highlighted the massive crimes of individuals representing football clubs against the very lifeblood of those clubs, and as yet, no-one seems to want to take responsibility. It may be true that unreserved apologies are only words that cannot heal the broken dreams and lives of the victims of child abuse, but an apology sure as hell can’t do any harm.
Acceptance of responsibility, no equivocation, and a plan to help mitigate the effect on sufferers is required.
Can we also make it clear that whilst we respect the right of anyone to hold with Hover Pitch theories of the nature of a football club, we also expect that our right to not take those folk seriously is also respected.
SFM is not a place where we should tolerate discussion of whether or not Santa exists, or that TRFC are the same club that was sent to the breakers yard of liquidation in 2012. No need for us to constantly restate the bleedin’ obvious. We really hope that fans of Rangers can come here and feel welcome, but we can’t seriously entertain primary school playtime chat. As we know, these matters are metaphysical in nature, and following on from good practice we will have no metaphysical debate for fear of offending the believers.
We have much to discuss, matters far more serious to consider, so welcome back to SFM.
The use of concussion substitutes in the SPFL will be allowed on a trial basis from 6 March until the end of the season, after a vote by all 42 clubs.
Clubs will be permitted to use a maximum of two such replacements in a match, regardless of the number of substitutions already made.
The rule change follows an announcement in December that system could be trialled until August 2021.
When a concussion sub is used, the other team can make another change too.
The Scottish FA refereeing department has began to brief clubs on the rule change.
From BBC Sport
Paddy Malarkey
At least there will be some consistency then – if the refs are doing the briefing 🙂
paddy malarkey 24th February 2021 at 17:30
‘..The Scottish FA refereeing department has began ‘
It’s bad enough that the BBC propagates a myth.
It’s quite atrocious that they now seem to employ writers with no knowledge of the grammar of the English language!
The ‘ he has went’s and the ‘he done its’ of the players-turned-pundits are acceptable enough , in that footballers are not employed for their academic skills.
The pig-sh-t ignorant staffer who wrote that piece should never have been employed by the BBC. ‘has began’, forsooth!
Turning a pandemic into a bigot fest takes some doing, does Paisly jnr have no shame.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p097x24d
People are the lifeline of football and football worldwide wants them back for the good of the game and employment as does business revenue streams and the economy, whislt there is a pandemic on it’s crucial that all people are treated equal in the fight against the pandemic to ensure that we get back to normal as asap, if people with poilitical views want to put discriminatory policies to who gets what, then it’s worth highlighting it and since people are supporters then it fits in nicely. Hope that answers your query.
Vernallen @15.12
.. and all the while referring to Sevco manager as GERRO!
Hi folks. I have got the new look (subtle changes) in good enough shape to make the big switch.
I have added some emphasis on the home page to remind us of some past highlights o the blog.
More than keen to have some folk test their writing skills also. There are some placeholders contained within the pages of the new structure which will be replaced as we go along.
I am not unaware that the contributions in terms of engagement, page views and comments, has dried up alarmingly. I’ve had a chat with Tom, and we’ve agreed to give it another few months to see if it picks up. Of course Tumbleweed doesn’t make a sound, but nobody sees it either. 🙁
That apart, I hope everyone agrees the new look has freshened the pages up a bit. Over to you.
Is the SFA waiting for Rangers to advise them of the penalty/suspension due to the covid 5. Its rather shocking that the team decided to welcome some of the offenders back in the fold this week, even, with internal discipline it does not send a positive message to their young fans who have been following the rules, and, they may now think if that’s all the punishment the team is allocating maybe I can bend the rules. It was good to see some of the comments from other fans on this issue. Nathan Patterson scores one goal and is now being suggested as a call up for the national team. I think a few more games under his belt might be a better judge of call up time. One last thing, the Europa league has generated just over $6 million pounds and this is described as a windfall.. This windfall barely puts a dent in the accumulated losses of close to $60 million and may not cover a lot of potential legal fees and expenses.
Sheesh!
From Today’s ‘The Scotsman”:
” A man who named women who gave evidence against Alex Salmond has been jailed for SIX MONTHS.
Mr X breached strict court order which prohibited the identification of the complainers who gave evidence at the former First Minister’s trial last year”
Where was Lady Dorrian when she might have done us a favour?
I note incidentally and separately that the Faculty of Advocates has expressed the view that ‘ ..no one in public life is beyond reproach and healthy public debate surrounding the justice system is to be encouraged. However, when the public discourse fails to respect the basic tenets of the independence of the system, it is in danger of leading to irreparable harm..’
I relate that observation to the SFA.
Obviously, I know that the SFA is NOT in law a ‘public institution’ in the way that the Courts and the COPFS and Parliament are: it is merely a private limited company, and as such is legally answerable only to its membership.
But, of course, it is rather more than an ordinary business; it glories in being accepted, and in having been accepted since its foundation, as the Governance body of Scottish Football.
And I have no hesitation in saying that in exercising that function it is operating in a way that, while not related to ‘public’ or State business , has such huge influence on the general public and the administration of a multi-million Sport, funded ultimately by ‘the public’, as to be considered as a ‘public institution’
A Sport – a “Sport”, I say- that has a presence in every community, village, town and city of the country and which, of all ‘businesses’ ,should be seen to be honest and true in its Governance and as wholly independent in arriving at its sport’s governance rulings as in its business practices.
Now, where the Faculty of Advocates speaks of a situation where ‘the public discourse fails to respect the basic tenets of the independence ‘, I submit that in the case of the SFA and the matter of the UEFA licence question and of the 5-Way Agreement it is the very Governance body, not ‘public discourse’ ,which has failed ‘to respect the tenets of independence’
The SFA refuses out of hand to investigate the ‘Res 12’ matter, and sits comfortably behind a ‘Secret 5-Way Agreement’ that makes a mockery, a real nonsense, of the concept of sporting honour and sporting success!
Those two major abuses of office have actually done irreparable harm to Scottish Football, where there is now a clear perception that the sport can be rigged for a price, and that honours and sporting achievements can be bought and sold rather than earned in good, honest, old-fashioned sporting endeavour on the field of play.
It gars me greet!
Anyone else puzzled why the five players from Rangers who breached covid rules have had no action taken against them by the SFA? In all other cases, including the previous two from Ibrox, action was taken to issue suspensions fairly quickly, yet these players are already back in the fold as if nothing happened. The fact the media and the Scottish Government have not condemned Rangers for the immorality of that is no surprise at all. Their anger is reserved for other clubs.
There is a constant moan from both sets of fans of “he can only score against so & so” ..Is there a statistics form or info available that can display who, say, Morelos or Edouard garner their goals against in league play, shows the importance of said goal, i.e, winner, tying goal, penalty..I think most fans might be surprised at the outcome..
While I voted to return to the original set up of the site I miss the banter especially for ones chosen team. The new set up was too open to abuse but I think a half way house might be well received. How do other members feel?
Upthehoops 27th February 2021 At 14:01
‘..Anyone else puzzled why the five players from Rangers who breached covid rules have had no action taken against them by the SFA?..’
“””””””””””””””””
Mrs C asked me this very afternoon what punishment had been meted out to the party-going 5.
“My dear”, I replied, “have you been with me since forever and still do not understand? The ‘rules’ simply do not apply to TRFC any more than they did to RFC plc. Not just ‘football rules’, but the rules governing the BBC and the SMSM generally in relation to the concepts of impartiality and truth.”
” Whit?”[there’s a wee private joke between us there about my speech] she cried in alarm ” Are you saying that there is any kind of suggestion that the SFA is “tainted with apparent bias”, [a phrase she had picked up from Lord Pentland in one of his [unconnected with football] recent judgments.]
“Sadly, my dear ” replied I, ” the track record of the Governance body of Scottish Football suggests that that indeed is the case”
” Oh, John”, she cried in horror, ” you cannot be serious! Surely you are mistaken?”
” Whit?” replies I ,” Have you not wondered whit the hell has oftimes kept me at this flaming keyboard late into the night in spite of hearing your enticing calls of ‘come to bed?’
But of course you are absolutely right, uth.
The SFA is a failed ‘institution’, incapable of any kind of proper governance because it has lied, and continues to lie ,and the liars cannot agree among themselves because each individual knows that every other individual who lied along with him cannot now be trusted not to lie to him!
As said before , a fish rots from the head.
And the SFA rotted in 2012, with the SMSM’s wholehearted participation and support.
May every one of the liars not rest as easily in their beds this very night as I go!