Gordon Parks: Hampden Cup Final shame is a sign of society's wider problems

[ian1964 10,419]

GORDON PARKS on the fans who invaded Hampden after last week’s Scottish Cup final.

 

FOLLOWING your favourite team should be a slice of life rather than a way of it.

 

Last weekend was a tale of two cities and it truly was the best of times and the worst of times.

 

Wave after wave, they poured on the pitch at the full-time whistle.

 

A TV audience watched live as the fan invasion flowed as freely as the bevvy in the run up to kick-off.

 

Nonexistent stewarding made access easy and there was as much stagger as swagger as half-cut supporters made for the half-way line and the defeated opposition.

 

The Scottish Cup Final between Rangers and Hibs at Hampden?

 

No, this was the Sportsground in Galway, two hours after the ground staff had removed the broken crossbar from the national stadium in Glasgow.

 

It felt like the entire city had gathered to celebrate Connacht’s Pro12 play-off win over Glasgow.

 

In an explosion of joy, supporters made the most of their historic success.

 

It was happiness, hugs and smiles all round and Warriors fans made their excuses and just let the Irish get on with it.

 

It was a far cry from the subculture of Scottish society that was on show at Hampden. Why are anger, hate and a need to gloat and goad a ned’s first reactions to a sporting victory?

 

There’s something dysfunctional if a fan needs to fight and engage in anti-social behaviour to get into triumphant mode.

 

Every club has a moronic element – sadly it was Hibs’ lunatic fringe, in particular, out in force at Hampden.

 

Afterwards, there was the usual clamour to claim the moral high ground.

 

Fans forums, hotlines, phone-ins have been full of the wronged calling for justice. Conspiracy theories, the blame game and bile of a predictable nature have been peddled.

 

Grown men and women united in outrage over the actions of those who use football as a conduit for the more disturbing aspects of twisted minds and who will never grasp the fact it’s only a game.

 

The whos, whats, whys and what-ifs of the final won’t get an airing here.

 

Sadly, all strands of Scottish subculture are offered a platform in sport.

 

Many who demonstrated their worst excesses of their personality may have mental health issues.

 

Poverty, poor education and irresponsible parenting all play a part in the production of the ned. It’s not football but the bigger social problems in Scottish society that need addressed.

 

Read more at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/gordon-parks-hampden-cup-final-8075183#YEGIrGBe6r32jJ63.99

[ian1964 10,419]

Hibs and Rangers on the Scottish Cup Final blame game: Gordon Waddell latest column

 

SUNDAY MAIL’S chief sportswriter on the continued blame-game over the fans who invaded Hampden after last week’s Scottish Cup final.

 

SO much heat, so little light. A week later and the Scottish Cup Final fallout is getting worse, not better.

 

No containment. Only blame dispersal from an industrial-sized PR blower, irrespective of right or wrong.

 

It’s been poisonous, hate-filled, he-said-she-said effluvia fuelled by people who should know better and, worse, those who weren’t even there.

 

So we might as well clear up where we are and where we might be going. Get a few facts straight, since that’s the thing people seem to be struggling with the most.

 

Maybe then we can all start moving towards reasoned outcomes instead of being deluged by dogma.

 

The Cause: None of it happens if Hibs fans don’t invade the park at Hampden. None.

 

That’s the genesis of the whole thing. Yet Hibs’ hierarchy and their massed ranks of support can’t and won’t accept they’re primarily responsible for everything that ensued.

 

The use of the word exuberance doesn’t cut it. They shouldn’t have been on the pitch.

 

Every other team for decades has managed to win the Cup – some of them with even longer dry streaks than Hibs – and resisted doing it. Any attempt to focus on what follows the dam bursting is an attempt to deflect.

 

The Effect: Two-fold – firstly, the players being regarded as fair game and, secondly, that once some supporters got beyond the halfway line, they weren’t there to celebrate, they were going to rub the opposition’s noses in it.

 

The assaults on the players have generated the most rage, mainly because the one thing lacking amidst the chaos was certainty. All I can say is what I saw personally from the press box.

 

Which was Rob Kiernan taking a kick from someone then being stupid enough to go back for a bit of his own, needing two security men to drag him back.

 

And Andy Halliday, instead of getting up the tunnel after being protected in the centre circle by the ref and Dylan McGeouch, insisting on trying to applaud the Rangers support and taking a boot on the way there.

 

He brushed it off, unhurt, but it’s still a nonsense he was in that situation at his work.

 

Apparently because I didn’t record video evidence of these incidents while I was rewriting a thousand-word match report, I’m a liar – but that’s the nature of social media for you.

 

The fans’ reaction? Put 20,000 folk anywhere, then stick a few hundred in front of them giving it the up-ye and come-ahead gestures, and a certain percentage will be hardwired with enough Neanderthal stupidity to think the only response is to wade in, not walk away.

 

Sad but true. Almost as sad is that the rest appeared to think singing about Fenians was somehow the more measured reaction.

 

The Perception: This is where it gets murky because both Sky and the BBC, as a matter of policy, bailed from showing the full incursion. That doesn’t mean they stopped filming and I’m led to believe Sky have already handed over footage to the police.

 

It means anyone who wasn’t there has no idea of the scale. Phone and periscope clips are there for all to see but they’re a microcosm, and judgment without the big picture is flawed.

 

It hasn’t stopped the twitter militia, though, occupying the moral high ground on behalf of Hibs.

 

The Reaction: From Hibs? Restraint, to the point of being comatose.

 

I’ve had people say Rod Petrie’s response was appropriate but the fact it was dragged grudgingly from him, and that he claimed he hadn’t seen any violence when he’d been watching from the directors’ box, diminished his credibility.

 

But not as much as Rangers have managed to diminish theirs in the days since. Their statements on Saturday and Sunday were the polar opposite of good PR – they were public retaliations, not public relations.

 

Creating more confrontation isn’t crisis management. So here’s a serious question: Who’s actually leading Rangers?

 

Is it Jim Traynor, the hired help? Is it Paul Murray, the de facto day-to-day face of their board? Dave King, the mainly absentee landlord? Stewart Robertson, the managing director?

 

There was so little cohesion, so little aim on their scattergun, that any sympathy they had at being initial victims has evaporated. They’ve overplayed their hand to the point of nausea.

 

Robertson’s statement the other day on the Billy Boys? Yes, he condemned it, but only on the premise that at least it wasn’t as bad as violently invading the pitch?

 

Why can’t he just say ‘What we did was wrong, full stop?’ It’s not an “either/or” situation.

 

Nothing mitigates against mass sectarianism, nor against violence, provocation or not.

 

The Recriminations: Those from both sides who perpetrated crimes will be dealt with, rightly, as criminals. The CCTV and Sky footage should provide enough evidence.

 

The SFA? Ordinarily, their problem would be their members’ failure to empower them in terms of strict liability for fans.

 

But because it was in the Cup, then Rule 28 of their Competition Rules – Disorderly Conduct – gives them plenty of rope to censure, fine or ban from next year’s competition.

 

Hibs instigated the trouble and will be the ones primarily sanctioned. But should Rangers face them as well for their reaction? Either way, the clubs will contest it because they’re both so intent on playing themselves as innocents.

 

Meanwhile, the SFA have an independent commission to appoint to look at what went wrong and if it was avoidable.

 

Once you get beyond the invasion as the root cause, the lack of a rapid reaction to it was the next biggest problem. When the dust settles, I suspect the tardiness of the police’s deployment will be where the fault lies, not in the planning.

 

Were they waiting for extra-time? By the time they got their line – it felt like 10 minutes but took less than five – the damage was done.

 

The Solution: Is there one? One that won’t spark more fights, more pathetic protests of innocence, more whataboutery?

 

The compliance officer may choose to bar Hibs from defending the trophy and fine Rangers but he’ll face lengthy legal challenges from both.

 

Whatever actions are taken, though, they need it done quickly. Not the nine months it took the SPFL to cane Motherwell.

 

There’s a new season looming that is filled with promise. New personalities, revamped competitions, fresh hope in Europe, World Cup qualifiers. Let’s be positive, because it’s bound to be calmer, right?

 

Right? …

 

Read more at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/hibs-rangers-scottish-cup-final-8075282#PkTFjhSAitpkvmfE.99

[ian1964 10,419]

Donald MacLeod

 

LAST Saturday, Hibernian FC, in what must be one of the most exciting finals ever to have been played at Hampden Park, finally won the Scottish Cup.

 

Their jubilant fans wasted no time in racing on to the pitch in their thousands to celebrate their injury-time winner against Rangers.

 

Sadly, some also targeted the Rangers players and goaded the Rangers support. In no time at all battles had broken out.

 

Shameful scenes were beamed live, becoming a major breaking news item.

 

Hibs may have won the cup, but in doing so they had unwittingly unleashed the pent-up storm clouds of football hooliganism. The trouble had eclipsed their team’s remarkable victory.

 

Time didn’t stand still that afternoon, it turned back.

 

I had, over recent years, forgotten just how explosive and dangerous these occasions could become. I had dropped my guard.

 

So, it seems, had the organisers of the cup final, especially those responsible for looking after player and crowd safety.

 

Sadly, unlike the torn-up pitch and wrecked goalposts, the damage will take years to repair.

 

The blame game between all involved was as expected as it was instant. So too were the denials and the defending of the indefensible.

 

The indifference shown by the Hibs chairman Rod Petrie over his fans’ behaviour was truly shocking.

 

Not to issue an instant apology or to express concern for the Rangers players allegedly being attacked was deplorable.

 

He eventually did, two days later – yet another example of doing too little too late.

 

Rangers, as expected, wasted no time in issuing their response. An indignant, defensive rant which did more damage than good, destroying any chance they had of taking the moral high-ground.

 

Thankfully the club has now said it will take severe action against all those involved. Again, too little too late!

 

Timing and planning are everything. Get it right, then an event will generally run like clockwork, get it wrong . . . well, expect trouble.

 

Why was there not a thick ring of police and stewards already lining the stadium when the final whistle blew? And why did it take them so long to arrive?

 

The truth must be told and the time for doing so is now not months from now at an inquiry.

 

The SFA didn’t waste any time in condemning all those involved in this shameful day, nor did it waste any time in putting the wheels in motion for an inquiry.

 

Will it sanction itself if it is found to be at fault?

 

But there is no doubt in my mind we must call time on even thinking about allowing the sale of alcohol back into stadiums.

 

As a city centre pub and club owner, I know staff have to deal with those too drunk and stupid to know their limit.

 

Many were already charged up on cheap supermarket booze before the match, but can you imagine the carnage if Hampden had bars open during the actual game.

 

The result would have been calls for a city centre shutdown for the sale of alcohol on match days, penalising safe, well-run establishments.

 

The French will be doing it on certain match-days featuring England at next month’s Euros.

 

Now that’s a measure we do not want to see being brought in here as it really would be blowing the final whistle on the pub trade.

 

https://www.sundaypost.com/opinion/donald-macleod-rangers-v-hibernian-shocking-scenes-should-call-time-on-football-booze-plan/

[trublusince1982 243]

The same old tired excuse of its alcohols fault. HAve been drunk at many a game especially old firm games and have never ran on the park and attacked anyone yet.

 

Alcohol is not to blame, well no more to blame than the constant stirring of hatred used by the media in shock and awe tactics to help save a dying trade.

 

The problem is hatred inflamed by differences and separation . Stop using religion to identify a child and where he should be placed for schooling, stop trying to split the country in half and stop letting religion have any say in the running of a country or community. Stop having one rule for one and another for people who dont have the same wants as you

 

Independence has set the country back 2 decades. Don't blame alcohol for obvious consequences. Thats just an easy cop out

What else did you think would happen when you set the country into two groups with opposite wants? especially when religion can be so easily mixed in. I'm afraid the scottish cup final will not be the last of it. Whether Scottish football will survive the coming years of infighting is anyone's guess. My money is on no.

[jhunter 0]

The same old tired excuse of its alcohols fault. HAve been drunk at many a game especially old firm games and have never ran on the park and attacked anyone yet.

 

Alcohol is not to blame, well no more to blame than the constant stirring of hatred used by the media in shock and awe tactics to help save a dying trade.

 

The problem is hatred inflamed by differences and separation . Stop using religion to identify a child and where he should be placed for schooling, stop trying to split the country in half and stop letting religion have any say in the running of a country or community. Stop having one rule for one and another for people who dont have the same wants as you

 

Independence has set the country back 2 decades. Don't blame alcohol for obvious consequences. Thats just an easy cop out

What else did you think would happen when you set the country into two groups with opposite wants? especially when religion can be so easily mixed in. I'm afraid the scottish cup final will not be the last of it. Whether Scottish football will survive the coming years of infighting is anyone's guess. My money is on no.

 

cheap supermarket booze

 

and he owns a bar, deary me.

 

absolute drivel from the usual supects

[ian1964 10,419]

and he owns a bar, deary me.

 

absolute drivel from the usual supects

 

Below is a Waddell article from 2012:

 

LET me start by saying this: There are no solutions. Only varying shades of s***. So for the good of everyone, it's time to be pragmatic rather than dogmatic.

 

When your choice lies between decimating Rangers as justice, or decimating your own team as punishment for not doing so, there MUST be a middle ground.

 

So let's try this.

 

Relegate Rangers to the First Division.

 

Bring Dundee up.

 

With the Ibrox team absent, get the SPL voting rights changed. End the stranglehold the insane 11-1 majority gives the Old Firm. With Rangers gone, the power has gone.

 

In its place, you have something resembling democracy which, even if they come back, the Old Firm can't change.

 

And with Rangers only down a division, you persuade Sky and ESPN it's not the end of the world. Stick with us and you'll soon have back your precious Old Firm games.

 

That way, crucially, you protect the central income of the clubs who are left.

 

Gers are still out of Europe for three years and with any sense they'll have backed down to the SFA and have accepted the justice of their original transfer embargo.

 

The pros? They get a sporting punishment and don't just walk back in to the SPL unmolested.

 

The rest of the clubs get what they've been agitating for but could never have achieved with Rangers there, which is a change to their rights. And they haven't had to completely leverage away their souls to do it.

 

Sky are hopefully still on board.

 

You get two up, two down from the SPL at last, ending the self-serving cartel - AND the SFL insist on it staying that way as the price to pay for facilitating it.

 

Throw in a boost for the First Division clubs in terms of revenue, assuming Rangers still have a support. Most of the clubs there are equipped to cope, as opposed to the Third.

 

The cons? It's not inflicting enough hurt on newco Rangers.

 

But think on it this way. It's like punching someone you detest in the face over and over again. Sure, you may derive satisfaction - but is it worth breaking your knuckles?

 

As it stands, all things being equal, from the chairmen and owners I've spoken to, the vote would go against Rangers.

 

But all things aren't equal.

 

They're under serious pressure from their supporters to do the right thing. The fans want Rangers emptied. And it's easy for me, as a diddy club fan, to understand why.

 

Just look at Rangers' support for evidence, threatening to boycott the very clubs who have their fate in their hands.

 

Even in their death throes they can't shake the arrogance they've worn like a tattoo on their foreheads for a century and more.

 

There's no contrition, no apology. Nothing from their would-be owner, from the previous vandals, or from the massed ranks.

 

It makes you want to see them get theirs - and get it big-time.

 

In the background, though, most clubs are bricking it.

 

Privately, they're seeking comfort from the SFA and Sky that doing the right thing isn't going to cripple them - and they're not getting any.

 

Take Dundee United. They get 29 per cent of their turnover from central revenue. Same again from season tickets. The rest is made up of, sponsorship, gate money, commercial income, yadda yadda.

 

For clubs like St Johnstone, the figure for central income is closer to 50 per cent.

 

And there's not one of them, other than Celtic, who could afford to lose the guts of that money overnight.

 

People keep saying to me the Sky threat isn't real - that they'll be there, or there will be a deal in its place.

 

If that was true, the chairmen would be sleeping at night. And they're not.

 

Because it's not as simple as taking it away and saying 'Doesn't matter, just cut your cloth, the game will be better for it anyway'.

 

Maybe it would, but the reality is the clubs have contracts to honour, commitments made on the basis of income forecasts.

 

Players' wages, staff, rent for training grounds - they don't go away, even if you lose 30 per cent of your revenue.

 

Obviously the counterpoint is that by voting yes, they alienate their own fans instead. And they can't afford that either.

 

Which is why a middle ground has to be found for everyone's good.

 

People will say there's no mechanism for the solution I've argued. So what? There's no precedent for ANY of this.

 

Create a mechanism. Speak to each other. Don't treat it like you're in a vacuum.

 

Get David Longmuir, Jim Ballantyne and Stewart Regan in the room with all the SPL types - and make it work.

 

It's not perfect, but nothing is. I'm not even saying I think it's right, because I don't.

 

I'd love them to take the chance to go to a 16-team league, bring in a pyramid, split the revenue evenly, create a football utopia.

 

They'll never going to do it, so we might as well find a halfway house.

 

This way it's a sporting punishment for Rangers, it obliterates the Old Firm's power base in the SPL and the collateral damage isn't apocalyptic. All of which is assuming Rangers survive at all, of course ...

[ian1964 10,419]

Gordon Smith

 

LAST week’s unveilings of Brendan Rodgers and Joey Barton by the Old Firm were a massive shot in the arm for the Scottish game.

 

It is hard to remember a time when two arrivals generated such excitement and optimism amongst the supporters of Celtic and Rangers.

 

And the timing could not have been more welcome. In the aftermath of the deplorable disturbances at the Scottish Cup Final, we were in desperate need of good news.

 

I was supposed to have been at the game to provide a tactical analysis for this newspaper. Instead I felt more like a war correspondent.

 

Hibs thoroughly deserved their historic success, a first Scottish Cup win since 1902. The match was a mirror of Rangers’ defeat of Celtic in the semi, only this time it was the Light Blues who were outplayed.

 

But no sooner had the final whistle sounded than the fans invaded the pitch and everything changed.

 

The football went out the window, and my mind went back to the notorious Old Firm Cup Final in 1980, the catalyst for the ban on alcohol at Scottish football grounds.

 

As a former chief executive of the SFA, it was impossible to watch the appalling scenes unfold without wondering what had gone wrong in terms of policing and stewarding.

 

Those questions will now be tackled by an independent inquiry, hopefully in a better fashion than by the two clubs involved in the immediate aftermath of the riot.

 

First we had Rod Petrie, chairman of Hibs and vice-president of the SFA, seriously under-reacting. He described the invasion – in which Rangers players had been assaulted and spat on by fans of his club – as over-exuberance.

 

His was an unimpressive display, overshadowed by the quick, appropriate and measured reaction from the Association’s current chief, Stewart Regan.

 

We don’t know what the final findings of the independent probe will be.

 

The intriguing possibility of the SFA being forced to fine themselves for their shortcomings as the tie’s hosts still exists. But I think it’s clear Hibs are going to get hammered for the actions of a section of their support.

 

As sad as it would be for the Easter Road club to be docked points, barred from playing in the Europa League or banned from competing in next season’s Scottish Cup, I don’t think we can rule any such sanctions out.

 

As the fallout continued, Rangers released a second statement last Sunday which was, for me anyway, an overreaction which took a scattergun approach to apportioning blame.

 

I know it chimed in with the feelings of many of their supporters, but I believe it went too far, especially in the naming of individuals in the media they were not pleased with.

 

It may have appealed to the majority of the Rangers support, but some of the high ground was lost by the Ibrox club there and then.

 

Oddest of all, though, was the silence of manager Mark Warburton to the loss of a game they had been expected to win.

 

He shouldn’t have been expected to comment on the fighting or the assaults on his players. But what he should have done was address the clear shortcomings of his team over the 90 minutes.

 

Given the size and profile of the match, that was not unreasonable. It didn’t even have to be done on the day. But over a week on, we still haven’t heard his views and that’s wrong.

 

He certainly has issues to be addressed. The defence isn’t good enough and will need to be reinforced, as will other areas of the team.

 

Certainly the arrival of Joey Barton will help.

 

Always a good player, he has added maturity and discipline. He stayed suspension-free as Burnley won the English Championship, despite being a near ever-present.

 

Rangers will need him, and more, because Brendan Rodgers is, I’m sure, going to hit the ground running at Celtic.

 

I know Brendan. He leaves no stone unturned.

 

He will already have opinions about the merits of the squad he is inheriting, and a clear picture in his head of the Celtic side he wants and the style of football he wants them to play.

 

There will already be a list of the men he wants to bring in to achieve those goals.

 

The early Champions League qualifiers mean everything has to be done almost instantly. So exciting times lie ahead, and it’s certainly not going to be dull.

 

Let’s just hope that, unlike last Saturday, it’s memorable for all the right reasons.

 

https://www.sundaypost.com/sport/football/gordon-smith-lets-hope-arrival-brendan-rodgers-joey-barton-mean-good-times-ahead/

[jhunter 0]

Below is a Waddell article from 2012:

 

 

 

The cons? It's not inflicting enough hurt on newco Rangers.

 

But think on it this way. It's like punching someone you detest in the face over and over again. Sure, you may derive satisfaction - but is it worth breaking your knuckles?

 

 

 

It makes you want to see them get theirs - and get it big-time.

 

All of which is assuming Rangers survive at all, of course ...

 

Does that make it twice he's advocated the use of violence against Rangers?

[Germinal 27]

Gordon Waddell's summing up of who did what poorly would carry more weight if he hadn't forgotten to include the media reaction. For all they say we are 'blaming the messenger ' won't wash if the messenger is deciding what the message is - the daily record story being a prime example.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Waddell has the utter brass neck to moralise to his readers, from a newspaper that employs a unashamed bigot and sectarian that targets only Rangers fans in her hatred.

 

No thanks i don't think the club will be taking any lessons from those shower of hypocrites at the Daily Sectarian.