Starter for TEN; Anyone for TEN-is? Bo Derek: Scottish Football 2020-21

[The Red Max]

The SFA and SPFL have begun disciplinary procedures against Jonny Hayes, Scott McKenna, Sam Cosgrove, Craig Bryson, Bruce Anderson, Dylan McGeouch, Matty Kennedy and Michael Devlin (Aberdeen FC) and Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo (Celtic FC), to be heard on Friday 28th August.
There will also be separate proceedings against Aberdeen & Celtic for alleged breaches of the SPFL’s COVID-19 testing regulations.

I'm expecting 2 - 3 match bans to be handed out to the players, just in time for our trip to in-form Hibs on the 30th August.
Fair enough, take it on the chin and move on.

https://twitter.com/ScottishFA/status/1294287859839574017

[Satchmo Distel]

The SFA and SPFL have to look tough on this or the Scottish government could just suspend the season.

[steviecowden]

The SFA and SPFL have to look tough on this or the Scottish government could just suspend the season.

aye,i suspect not taking action because its big teams that have sinned wont wash with the government

[Mr Beast]

Ewan Murray filed one of his "will this do?" pieces in a never ending series about Scottish football being unremittingly shite this week on the back of Celtic's exit from Europe. He obviously hates football, particularly Scottish football as the subject of his cultural cringe, and is being used in a blatant cost cutting measure as he's Scottish, so he'll do. He should stick to golf where I'd definitely have no temptation to read him.

[The Red Max]

The Dons get a bit of a result before a ball is kicked this weekend.

[URL="https://twitter.com/BBCSportScot/status/1299408969228787712"]https://twitter.com/BBCSportScot/sta...08969228787712[/URL]

[Satchmo Distel]

Ridiculously lenient.

[DPDPDPDP]

Ridiculously lenient.

What punishment would you have deemed appropriate?

[Ray de Galles]

Apologies if this has already been covered but I've only just caught up (via a belated read of WSC 401) with the news of the West of Scotland Football League being formed by 63 clubs from the West region of the Juniors and 4 others.

Is there a start date in place for the league yet and where does this (and the East of Scotland FL being formed a few years ago) leave the remaining Junior Leagues?

[Southport Zeb]

The most recent information I've seen says that 11th October is the start date that is currently being worked towards, but of course this is subject to change.

Strictly speaking the East of Scotland League was formed in 1923, but has expanded enormously over the last few years as the majority of clubs that were previously played in the East Juniors have switched.

There are around 30 clubs remaining in the East Juniors, split into two parallel leagues (north and south). I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more of these sides switch to the seniors over the next few years, but I think some clubs are happy enough where they are - particularly those round Dundee and up into Angus, who would have some lengthy trips if they switched.

Meanwhile the North Juniors will presumably carry on much as they do at present in their own little world, sitting in the gap between the Highland League and amateur football.

[Satchmo Distel]

What punishment would you have deemed appropriate?

An actual three game ban.

[DPDPDPDP]

An actual three game ban.

Seems a bit OTT compared to the no action taken for these Three clubs’ violations. https://www.skysports.com/football/n...ing-procedures

[Diable Rouge]

I see Tunde Owolabi has signed for Hamilton, though his first-team exposure has been rather limited to date.

[CY_Boaby]

I can't say I know anything about Tunde Owolabi - is he someone to look out for?

Shame there's no Pars fans on this forum as I'd love to know more about this German mob buying a 30% stake in the club with the option to raise it to 75%. As a fan-owned club, it's got the approval of Pars United and looks like they're happy to be selling up and see it as a really positive development for the club. I really hope they've done their due diligence.

At St Mirren we gave up a significant 27.5% stake to Kibble, but at least we knew all about them being a Paisley-based charity whose values aligned with ours. It does seem strange that a German investment company who have been scouring the world for the past 2 years looking for a club to invest in, chooses a mid-table Scottish Championship team. Where's the catch?

[CY_Boaby]

My 10 year-old son has his own pair of football boots and goalkeeper gloves, so had we still lived in Paisley I would have given Jim Goodwin a call and let him know his search for a goalkeeper for today's game against Hibs is now over.

This week it's us who are suffering, next week it'll be someone else and when the lower leagues resume next month, it'll become even more frequent. Where's the Scottish Government to postpone the fixtures when you need them?

[CY_Boaby]

Shame to hear that this season's Diddy Cup is cancelled, although makes a lot of sense. With last season's final between ICT and Raith Rovers still to be played, the SPFL could have scheduled it for today and got maximum exposure. What a great curtain raiser to raise awareness that the lower leagues will commence later this month, but no, it's just not the SPFL's modus operandi to promote our game and the the lower leagues.

[BallochSonsFan]

I dislike the new format of the lower league cup. The inclusion of colt teams caused a lot of anger amongst lower league fans. We deserve better than to be treated as fodder for top flight kids. The addition of Welsh, Irish and non-league English clubs is also an absolute farce. Our trip to Oswestry for the game against The New Saints might have been a fantastic day out but the risk of a Welsh League team getting to the final of a Scottish club cup tournament was an absolute farce. With the expansion of the leagues to include the new East of Scotland and West of Scotland leagues, it would be far better if we could return the competition to focus on Scottish lower league clubs only. It might only have been the diddy cup but getting to the final a couple of years ago created a buzz and a bit of a feel good factor in an otherwise dismal relegation season for Dumbarton. That kind of cup run and buzz felt great and it's something that would be every bit as enjoyable as a big club going on a Scottish Cup run. Its a chance for teams to experience a cup final. We should value that regardless of the level and how little prestige the competition may attract in the grand scheme of things.

[Ray de Galles]

I've been wondering, is there any level of Scottish football at which crowds are allowed in - or is there no elite/grassroots distinction as there is in England at the moment?

[steviecowden]

I've been wondering, is there any level of Scottish football at which crowds are allowed in - or is there no elite/grassroots distinction as there is in England at the moment?

none
its utterly preposterous and really starting to piss people off

[Ray de Galles]

Bloody hell, are the Juniors and East and West Football League teams playing matches?

[steviecowden]

Bloody hell, are the Juniors and East and West Football League teams playing matches?

the LL and EoSL began last week.dont know when the WoSL league is starting or the juniors.The NCL begins on saturday(hooray,ill get to games even though im not meant to) and the SHFL have decided to postpone and wait and see.The championship and leagues 1&2also start on saturday

[torres]

The WOS Juniors is scheduled for Saturday, however a few of the bigger clubs have already stated that they will be withdrawing for the coming season. So far Talbot, Pollok and Cumnock have ended any participation. I’ll see if I can find out more later of any other clubs intentions.

[CY_Boaby]

Looking forward to the Championship and Leagues One & Two starting - it's been too long. I just hope they can survive this blanket ban on crowds as surely something's got to give.

The Championship kicks off tomorrow night as the runaway favourite and darling of BBC Scotland, Hearts, take on the second-favourites, Dundee. The fact that two utter basket case clubs are the favourites tells a lot about the state of the Championship this season. It'll be interesting to see what sort of reception the Dundee board get from Ann Budge & Co after the voting fiasco back in April.

If either or both of the two favourites crash and burn, then ICT, Dunfermline and Ayr will be right there to take advantage, but Arbroath had a great season so they can't be ignored. Down at the bottom, Queen of the South can't keep relying on Stephen Dobbie to score all their goals whilst Greenock Morton are looking very weak. Raith Rovers & Alloa will no doubt be in the relegation mix too.

League One - blameless and BallochSonsFan are better placed to preview this one, but from my ill-informed view it has to be Partick Thistle to come back up, although Falkirk and Airdrie might given them a hell of a challenge. Will be interesting to see how Cove Rangers get on.

League Two - I genuinely haven't a clue here, but i'll be looking out for Brechin City to see if their downward spiral will finally see them exit the SPFL set up.

[The Red Max]

https://twitter.com/saintmirrenfc/status/1316714453845540864

St Mirren confirm 2 first-team players have returned a positive COVID-19 test result in their most recent round of routine testing.
The players who returned positive tests will self-isolate along with a third player as a precaution.
All three players will be unavailable for this weekend’s match against Motherwell.

[Lang Spoon]

Cancel the fucking league for fuck sake.

[CY_Boaby]

It better not be our goalkeepers again. Thankfully Hearts play on Friday so we can get Bobby Zlamal back in on emergency loan for Saturday's game with Motherwell.