Sweetchuck

Think this thread pretty much backs up my point Sweetchuck

 

http://www.thedandies.co.uk/messageboard/index.php?topic=7414.msg114138#msg114138

Call me cynical if you like, but I'm not going to start wetting my drawers in excitement at the prospect of Faroese and Northern Irish youth internationalists. Take away those 5 and we still have a very average spread of youth internationalists in SPL terms.

It's also worth bearing in mind that only a few of these lads are actually regulars at international level: the rest are included as internationalists becaise they've been capped in the past, not because they're current regulars for their respective nations. If you applied that approach (ie. claiming that any player ever to have won a cap at any international level is worth shouting about), I'd be willing to bet that at least 75% of our first-team squad qualifies as 'internationalists' under such rules (mostly at U21 or B level). Doesn't mean we have a squad packed full of quality, though, does it?

The club can bluster about quantity of youth players as much as it likes, but I could get you 20 San Marinese youth internationals signed up by the end of the week and still have change of a tenner. Quality is far more important than quantity, and doctoring the stats for youth internationalists at the club is a pretty shabby ploy to cover up the fact that our youth setup remains nothing more than desperately average.

I don't think Falkirk are better than us but they have more players in the Full Scotland squad than us. Does this worry you? Would you rather be in their position? I don't, but at least they'll get a conga at Hampden this year.

Well, first things first: if Miller wasn't injured, we'd have as many players in the squad as Falkirk. However, that's a minor point in the overall debate. In terms of your question about whether that worries me (the implication being that I shouldn't be), I would say that given that our short- to medium-term ambition is to be the third best team in Scotland, then of course it worries me that we can only achieve one representative in the full squad, particularly at a time when almost half of the squad is drawn from the SPL.

Why on earth would that make me want to swap places with Falkirk, though? The fact that they have as many players as us in the squad doesn't mean I envy them; it just means that we each have one player worthy of inclusion in the senior squad and that they have even worse Scottish dross than us when it comes to the rest of the squad. The same is true when it comes to our youngsters. I'm not saying that Falkirk are a paradigm of good youth development; merely that they're an average outfit with a pretty poor history of producing good young players, and yet they are producing more international-class youngsters than us and (assuming they win their games in hand) outperforming us in the most meaningful indicator of youth development before graduation to the first team (the youth league). They too are a beacon of mediocrity, but the fact that they are outperforming us surely raises questions about just how good our much-vaunted crop of youngsters really is... Doesn't it?

As such, my point is not that Falkirk are doing particularly well and desrving of envy, but rather that we are doing distinctly averagely, despite a number of our youngsters being hyped by the fans as saviours of the club. We need to get a reality check about just how good these young lads are. Sure, you can't base your judgement entirely on the league or junior caps, but until they make it to the first team, it's all you have. On that basis, these guys really aren't going to set the heather alight if they're thrown into the mix with the big boys next season.

On the subject of Langfield, has anybody EVER seen him save a pen?

 

I can't think of any occasion.

Off the top of my head, Bayern at home last year, and St Mirren away the year before that.

Think you take the youth team a bit too seriously mate. It's not about winning the league, it's about having one or two players come through and making the first team.

 

I couldn't give a fuck about how many of our players make the U21 squad. How many caps did Anderson get for the under 21's. How many did Darren Young get? Now who do you think is better?

The post was aimed at BigAl, not you. My response to you was that I've seen them with my own eyes and know that they are no better than most of the other very average youngsters out there.

That said, my point about the leagues still stands: do you have any better suggestions for ways of comparing our youth players against the youth players from other teams over the course of a couple of seasons?

The league seems a pretty sensible bet to me, and I couldn't give a fuck if you couldn't give a fuck about youth Scotland squads, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a worrying sign when Livingston and Cowdenbeath are able to claim as many youth internationalists as AFC.

And as far as Diamond is concerned it's Seves job. Why should he take the responsibility?

Because that's what leaders do?

If he can only get worked up about things when he's wearing an armband, he's every bit as unfit a captain as Seve.

How can you confidently say that?

 

The other day it was reported there are 12 youngsters we should be hoping to make the step up. Pawlett is being hyped up as much as Bebo was.

Because I've seen youth games with my own eyes. Because the youth league tables show that we are not particularly strong at youth level across Scotland. Because none of them have made the step up yet despite our first team squad being threadbare and deficient in terms of quality. If we genuinely had outstanding youngsters, we wouldn't need to piss away £100k on utter garbage like Tommy Wright.

As for Maguire being a benchmark for young players: do you think he is the quality of player required to get us into regular 3rd place finishes and beyond? If so, heaven help us. If Pawlett is on a par with Maguire, all that means is another primadonna who is incapable of some of the most basic requirements of being a professional footballer. I've seen him play and yes, he looks good, but he is only one player competing for a position for which some of JC's golden boys already provide cover.

Is our crop of youngsters really worse than other clubs. Recent international squads would tend to suggest otherwise. Kind of curious as to who is in much better shape than us youngster wise

On the basis of recent international squads, we have had one player (Maguire) in the under-21s (the same number as Hamilton and three fewer than Falkirk), one (Crawford) in the October squad for the under-19s (same as Livingston and fewer than all our major SPL competitors and the likes of Falkirk) and two (Crawford and Smith) in the February squad, and 3 in the under-15s (the same as St Mirren and Cowdenbeath; fewer than Falkirk again). I'd really struggle to describe that as anything more than average.

In terms of under-19 league performance, we are firmly camped in the middle of the table, which again suggests the kind of mediocrity with which Milne and Miller are so happy at first team level. Bearing in mind games in hand, our youngsters could be left trailing in the wake of those youth-team powerhouses Falkirk and ICT. Finished 6th overall last year and 7th the year before.

Don't get me wrong: my point isn't that our youth team is awful, because it's not. It's just very, very average, with one or two exceptions.

There was one point last night where Zander was screaming at Seve to get the lads going. Was quite embarassing to watch. Should be doing this with no encouragement from younger players.

Would Zander not be better placed getting the lads going himself rather than shouting at Seve to do it?

Not all motivation has to stem from the captaincy: real leaders don't need armbands to confirm their stature. Zander is perfectly capable of stepping up to the plate without actually being made captain. If Seve can't be arsed then there's a leadership vacuum there which can be filled by someone with or without an armband.

A good crop of youngsters? In all honesty, the current crop of youngsters is mediocre in comparison with the rest of Scotland.

Should we sack JC he won't be compensated for the full amount of time left on his contract, only a portion of that, I believe. This still may make things prohibitive as far as making a move for McGhee goes, right enough.

Pretty certain we'd liable for the full shebang, unfortunately. From memory, Bilbo knows more about contract law than I do though - he'd be better placed to advise.

Racking my brain trying to think of other possible worthwhile names... Feel free to add.

Lawrie Sanchez - Unemployed

Kenny Jackett - Millwall

Roberto Martinez - Swansea City

Been away again the past few weeks: looks like I'm back on here just in time for the mother of all shitstorms.

In terms of the Darren Ferguson link, we have no hope whatsoever. They're romping it with Leicester at the top of League 1, and however high an opinion we have of ourselves, the simple truth is that the SPL is an unattractive and uncompetitive league with very little money available to managers. Why on earth would Ferguson want to jeopardise his extremely promising managerial career and the potential of taking Peterborough into the second richest league in the world for the sake of an emotional attachment his old man has to a club which he himself probably has fuck all interest in?

Even if he was my son, I'd be telling him to stay put.

Eric Black and Mark McGhee seem the most realistic options in terms of who is available and who would be prepared to take on the job, although neither inspires me with a huge amount of confidence. Black would presumably be the cheaper option as he will almost certainly have a managerial release clause in his contract. If we have to stump up for the remainder of JC's contract, the compensation we would need to pay Motherwell for McGhee would be prohibitive.

However much I loathe JC being at the club, the simple truth is that unless there is concerted action from the fans - ie. a mass boycott this season or refusal to renew season tickets next year - then he's probably going to be here for the duration of his contract.

Unfortunately, the financial climate not only makes sacking him more of a challenge, but also means that non-renewed season tickets will be written off by Willie Miller as being the result of finances as opposed to opposition to JC's ongoing tenure.

The poor bastard; he won't be able to squeeze in his annual trip to Mercury in order to top up his tan.

Is the creosoted JC we know and love/loathe (delete as appropriate) gone for good?

That fat scab cunt is usually so far wide of the mark that I expect it's already a done deal.

No buses running in London?

WTF is that all about?

Hadn't you noticed that the weather is frickin' apocalyptic, maaan?

It's a miracle that any of us are still alive, if the tone of the media is anything to go by.

Apparently the pavements in Notting Hill are so slushy that the residents simply can't reach the 4x4 to get to Harrods & Harvey Nicks, and are therefore on the verge of cannibalism.

Apparently a light covering of snow coupled with a cold wind down in Englandshire now constitutes "Arctic conditions".

Perhaps someone should tell them that the average Arctic temperature in February is a balmy -34°C and that plenty of places far further south than the UK also experience these exact same conditions year in, year out without becoming such a load of whining, mincing "woe is me" fannies when they need to scrape their fucking windscreen in the morning.

"Arctic condition"... Jesus fucking wept. At what point eactly did this country metamorphose into such a fucking cringeworthy embarrassment?

This has a whiff of shite about it - a couple of things look out of place.

Firstly, the report doesn't even spell creditworthiness correctly. I would expect them to at least get that right.

Secondly, Hearts are listed as having 6 CCJs against their name. CCJs don't even exist in Scotland; we have decrees instead. That doesn't mean that English companies or individuals based in England haven't had CCJs declared against HMFC, but it seems unlikely that there would be 6 CCJs from England and no decrees from Scotland.

Anyway, even if this isn't rubbish, every credit agency will 'score' your report differently. Overall, the only one which really matters to us is the one HBoS uses. Not one of the UK's major banks uses anyone other than the Big Three (Experian, Callcredit and Equifax) for credit reports (incidentally, HBoS uses all three).

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter whether or not this is an accurate report of CreditSafe's reports, as their reports are unlikely to have any bearing upon our finances as a club.

Scored some big goals in important games: the last minute winner from 30 yards against Hibs in front of the Merkland was orgasmic.

However, all too often he's allowed himself to be dominated in midfield by far lesser opponents.

He's done a good job for us overall, but ultimately he'll still leave as something of a disappointment, because nobody could deny that he was capable of much more on a much more regular basis. With the right motivation and commitment he could have developed into as good an all-round midfielder as Scott Brown, but that drive sadly isn't there.

Plus, if the personal stories I've heard are anything to go by, it would do him good to get away from the city of Aberdeen.

As long as he doesn't sign for the Huns or the Jutes, I dare say he'll leave with the best wishes of most Dons fans, but I think many will still look back at the excitement felt when we signed him, and will ask questions about whether or not he ever really justified that excitement on a consistent basis.

We have nothing to be grateful to the Old Firm for. NOTHING. If any Scottish clubs exhibit parasitic tendencies, it's the Bigot Brothers and their nasty habit of hoovering up talented players from any emerging opposition, before making the laughable claim that the league isn't competitive enough for them to succeed in Europe.

If you are seriously under the impression that your kids wouldn't hear far more objectionable stuff in the away end, then you are even more deluded than your average Celtic fan, and utterly beyond redemption. Presumably you were out of earshot of the DOB chants and 'folk' songs on Sunday?

Delusional? Check.

Persecution complex? Check.

Fake Irish passport? Check.

Paranoid delusions about anti-popery within the AFC support? Check.

Blinkered view of the appalling behaviour of the green and grey unwashed? Check.

Seriously, just fuck off and take your paranoia with you. For as long as people like you play the victim, and scumbags like McGeady turn their back on their country of birth for the sake of their own deluded prejudices, I reserve the right to criticise you and them for it.

Now fucking grow up and get your own house in order before throwing around ridiculous accusations about other clubs and supporters.

Durrant and rave about Simmie every time a Hun game comes round? I can safely say that all this Boersma to tears.

I didn’t want my kids exposed to Celtic supporters who had been bevying for 4 hours on the journey north.

Celtic fans are welcome anywhere in Europe and have won awards for their behaviour and sportsmanship

So they're welcome everywhere in Europe, but you don't want your kids anywhere near them?

Fuck off and take your double standards, whiney self-delusion and mock moral outrage to a forum where people could actually give a fuck about you, your wife, your kids or your worthless opinion. If you're fucking stupid enough to take your pride and joy into the wrong end at a fitba match because you're too much of a gloryhunting, fairweather fan to get proper away end tickets then you're probably lucky you didn't get your teeth knocked out. Try doing that at Ibrox and see how far you get, you fucking wind-up piece of shit.

1. Parkhead

2. Celtic Park

3. That one in the East End of Glasgow

Only being able to see one fucking set of goals in the ground is ridiculous. Plus, when you can't see the game you have to endure the pig-ugliest football fans in Scotland, bar none. And I'm not referring to our away support, before anyone starts.

He doesn't ask "if Paul Sheerin is playing" does he?

 

Anyone remember that thread from years ago? 

I was thinking about that when I typed my reply earlier, and half-thought about mentioning it. Nice to see it's remembered fondly by others, too.

"Was that a goal then?"

My name is TenementFunster and I am a sufferer of F.I.T. (Foster Induced Tourettes), I wholeheartedly apologise to all those who are either sencitive to foul language or have been incenced by it.

 

I may be the missing link but I'm not wee. 

Having seen your ugly mug on the DonsTalk wall of shame, I can assure you that it's not you.

No; the offender is a wee lad - probably not much over 5'3" - and has a tendency to repeat exactly what's been shouted by the fella standing next to him just 5 seconds before, regardless of whether he actually knows him or not. He also makes these... er... noises. The closest comparison I can think of is washed up 80s comedy superstar Bobcat Goldthwaite and his vocal stylings: growls/whines/strangling sounds etc.

He also seems happily oblivious to the fact that so many people try to take the piss out of him (sometimes quite cruelly, I might add). He also seems totally harmless, even if he does seem a bit unstable when he loses it at the referee, moves up an octave and starts spewing forth second-hand insults, slobbering all over the guy in front of him in the process. Anyone else who sits even remotely near this guy will know exactly who I'm talking about.

As my Granny would always say: ar's neen so queer as folk.

Andy Murray - England's greatest Scotsman?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7604057.stm

 

Scot Andy Murray's march to the US Open final has left some Americans mistakenly applauding the "Englishman". And they're not the only ones confused by the whole Scotland-England-Britain thing.

 

Few British press reports lauding tennis star Andy Murray's dramatic victory over Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals failed to mention that the 21-year-old is Scottish.

 

And most Brits would know anyway, especially after Murray underlined his nationality with his controversial - although perhaps tongue-in-cheek - comments in 2006 about supporting any football team playing England.

 

The furore that followed that remark did not register in the US of course, where many observers remain confused about who the young man from Dunblane really is.

 

Former tennis player Wendy Turnbull, an Australian now commentating for the BBC, says: "It was funny, I was upstairs in the players' lounge and I heard some Americans go 'Oh, the Englishman won.'

 

"Then someone said 'He's Scottish!' and the others said 'We meant to say British, not English.' So Americans are correcting other Americans and saying he's Scottish."

 

The BBC's tennis commentator, Jonathan Overend, in New York, says: "It's amazing, isn't it? Some people here still can't get their heads around what that's all about, saying 'Well how can he be from Scotland but still from Britain?'"

 

It's a mistake that was made at Wimbledon earlier this year by American John McEnroe who, when commentating on a Murray match, described him as one of "you English guys". He swiftly apologised.

 

'Aussies better'

 

It's not just tennis pros who fall victim to this confusion. Ken Paterson, a photographer who set up the Famous Scots Project to celebrate the Scots diaspora, says that when telling people in the US that he's Scottish, they do sometimes think it is part of England.

 

"You do have to explain that. It's not an uncommon perception, but then Americans are not particularly educated about geography outside their own country," he says. Although many Americans might think the same about British knowledge of their country.

 

"I think Australians are slightly better, but I don't think other countries want to split us [britain] up. We're a small country on the edge of Europe. Why split us up any further?

 

For MSP Stewart Maxwell, "Britain doesn't really mean anything to Americans".

 

"They think of Britain as England and can't differentiate between Wales and Scotland and England," says the communities and sport minister.

 

"I think Europeans are very clear about the different parts of the UK. I've never experienced that problem in Europe."

 

In the US Mr Maxwell has experienced the two extremes - a barmaid in the Deep South standing in front of a gantry full of Scotch whisky who said she had never heard of Scotland and a Native American in California who was so knowledgeable he could isolate where Mr Maxwell was from - Glasgow.

 

'Don't be smug'

 

"I'm never upset by it. It's not the individual's fault. Once you speak to people and explain the difference you realise they are aware of the iconic things about Scotland - whisky, castles, Loch Ness and tartan - and very enthusiastic about it."

 

But Brits shouldn't get too smug - they make the same mistakes too. Although awareness within the UK about national differences has grown, especially since devolution, there are still instances where people publicly fall back into bad habits.

 

And the BBC is one of the main culprits, says Mr Maxwell. This was perfectly illustrated when one interviewer asked sprinter Usain Bolt to give a message to "the whole of England watching" after his Olympic triumphs.

 

"It's a continuation of England and Britain being the same thing," says the MSP. "There's an excuse for people far away to not know their geography but the fact remains that the BBC not knowing it is beyond the pale."

He'll also take into account the fact that he lives in London. He'd get hounded out his own home if he took the antagonising too far.

I'm not saying he should come out in an "Anyone but England" t-shirt. I just find it sad to think that him waving the Saltire would be any more offensive to the English than it would be for us to see Henman waving an England flag. I wouldn't let it bother me one bit and I don't see why so many English people are so quick to associate Scottishness with hatred of the English. Yes, there are some wankers up here who take an innocent sporting rivalry too far, but in general, the idea that Scottish=anti-English is nothing more than a paranoid myth spread by red-top shitrags down south in order to shift more copy.

I don't know a single Scot who hates England or the English, regardless of how much they all enjoy seeing them get absolutely pumped at fitba.

If anyone down south thought that him waving a Saltire was sufficient antagonism to justify driving the guy our of his home, they need to get a serious reality check and have a think a bit more deeply about why they should be so offended by a Scot celebrating his national identity.

If he wins I'll look forward to Little England's froth if he wraps himself in a Saltire rather than a Union Jack, although sadly I suspect that his "advisors" will be keen he does the latter

Sadly, I think you're right, in that he'll probably bottle it and either wave a Union Jack or nothing at all (assuming he doesn't bottle it during the match itself).

However, why should he or his advisors be worried about what people in England think? They're the ones who have blown an entirely innocent comment out of context, so fuck 'em. It's not like he depends on them for funding any more. If he was a 13 year-old dependent on LTA funding then fine, but the guy's already a millionaire and about to be named as one of the world's top 4 players.

If I was in his position, I would be keen to antagonise them as much as possible, because it clearly grinds their gears really badly to see some snotty-nosed, uppity Jock winning anything where their toffee-nosed, inglorious-failure, personality-vacuum Henman failed so regularly; and nothing he ever does will win them round, given the rampant ignorance which currently accompanies their frenzied condemnations of him as a person.