£2 for Panini stickers?! Game's gone...

The Scottish Cup semi-finals are done and dusted, and there will be some familiar faces meeting each other in the showpiece in May. One face that (probably) won't be at Hampden for the final, however, is pundit Michael Stewart who was barred from entering the national stadium at the weekend by the SFA. Does his exclusion set a dangerous precedent for freedom of speech in our game? 

There's been endless chat about Hearts this season as they maintain the lead in the Premiership title race, but what's been going on at the top of the leagues below the top flight? We have a look around all the movers and shakers from the Championship to the Lowland and Highland Leagues.

And with Scotland heading to the World Cup this Summer against a seemingly never-ending barrage of bad news stories around the fan experience in the host country, we try to make sense of what might lie in wait for the Tartan Army in June. And maybe Oli McBurnie too?

Join Andrew Slaven, Laura Brannan and Findlay Marks once again as they're fully up to pod fitness and tackling the big talking points from the last week in Scottish football.

RUNNING ORDER:
00:00: INTRO: Snoods, tiny shin pads and...sports bras?

03:37: SCOTTISH CUP: Dunfermline will meet Celtic in this year's final, but can you remember the last time the Pars faced off against the Hoops at Hampden

11:54: EXTRA-TIME: Is there any point to an additional 30 minutes in the modern game?

16:51: BANNING PUNDITS: Were the SFA right to ban Michael Stewart from covering the Scottish Cup semi-finals at Hampden?

24:04: LOWER LEAGUES: Who's looking on course for the title from the Championship down to the Lowland and Highland leagues?

30:29: SCOTLAND: What will lie in wait for fans heading over to the USA this summer?

38:05: OLI MCBURNIE: The Hull City striker has been asking Steve Clarke what it will take for him to make the World Cup squad, but was he right to do so?

41:34: OUTRO

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Scottish Football Show. Here's what's coming up. Cell take care of below par, but they still find a way to set up another final with a familiar face. All the chat's been about hearts this season, but we're going to show some love for the title run-ins at the lore divisions. And I want to be in America. Or do I? Do I want to be in America? I have been there before. Do I want to go back, Laura? You're going there.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Yeah, but I'm also using my entire life savings to just get to one game in the World Cup.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Your life savings? You shouldn't have had that big lovely wedding that you had last year.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

I wish that was a reason for it, and I wish it wasn't because Farge is so corrupt, it hurts.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Yeah, I know. Do you know what? I haven't done my intro. I had an intro you. TNT super senior producer Laura Brannon. And uh from the the darkness of Australia, because it's like two in the morning, Witchin' hour, it's Finley Marks, super sexy creative in Melbourne, but a pure Paisley Punter by trade.

SPEAKER_05 1:10

100% Paisley Punter. Yeah, I've actually got that tattooed across my back. So no, I don't say us. Very good. How are you, Finn? You alright? Good. Yeah, cold. It's it's it's good that we've revived the podcast just in time for the real autumn Christmas coming back to Melbourne. Not during any of the summer months here where it was uh absolutely fine. So yeah, if you're watching any of these clips or anything, I've got uh it's actually my wife's like enormous is it a Snood No Snood was something different football, wasn't it? You remember that that weird um cravat thing that footballers wore? Ah, yeah, yeah, it's not that it's just it's a massive.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

I love how he says it like they don't wear it anymore because now he lives in a warm country. But they're still in cold climates, Finn. They still wear them.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Yeah, it's true. Although they banned Snoots, remember that? They actually banned the FA, the English FA anyway. Uh they banned Snoots.

SPEAKER_05 2:10

Well, they were a total fan. But it's you know, you get these wee fads like um the the the biggest current one. I'm just like, oh man, is the uh cutting the holes in the back of your socks. There's also like a blob of um Vic Vapor Rub at the front of your shirt as well. Do you remember that to help you breathe better? I don't know if there's any.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Did you see there was a player, I cannot remember who it was, but someone basically got their shins uh destroyed in a tackle. And it's kind of like, well, it was your own fault you're wearing tiny shin pads, it's literally the point of wearing them.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

I mean, I know, I know, I know that's like a horror tackle and stuff like that. But if someone can find a pure and surefire way of sorting out your man nips after 90 minutes of sweating, and if you've got the wrong material and you finish 90 minutes of football and you get showered and your nipples are just fucking flaming hot, and it's just like, oh my god, oh gaffa, we need new kits, man.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

What about the GP uh GPS vests that everyone thinks are just basically glorified bras for men? What? Because they put their little they put their little GPS um into the back that monitored all their fitness over the game. They intentionally are a sports bra that players wear. That's what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

I thought you were talking about G4S. The Stewart are standing there with sports bras on. This podcast is came back without a bang.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

The way it takes 17 years, not just for the revenge, but to even get back to the Scottish Cup semi-final. Oh, it's worth the way.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

We have our finalists for the Scottish Cup. It's going to be Denferlin against Celtic. And Denferlin beat another Premier League opposition in full kick. They won 4th 2 on penalties. I was trying to do you know what I actually don't know the answer to is the last lower-tier division uh team to get to a Scottish Cup final.

SPEAKER_05 4:25

Was it not Cali Thistle about two or three years ago? Did they not play Celtic in the final?

SPEAKER_01 4:30

They did Inverness in the final in 2023. So wasn't that and then we we also had um well I mean, Hibs won it when they were in the championship a decade ago.

SPEAKER_05 4:40

That's right, against Rangers who were both who were both in the championship at the time.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Yeah. Ah, cool. That's pretty cool. I mean, the reason I was kind of thinking about it was just because it's so good when you see a cup competition where it's knockout, you know, one match and the semi-finals is one match at hand. Um but yeah, it's it's a really nice story to see a championship team going up. It's gonna be a tough ass, don't get me wrong, but Celtic are playing dreadful at the moment, so who knows?

SPEAKER_01 5:08

I did see somebody tweeting saying we some laugh if Dunferman won the cup and they're playing in Europe next season, so they've got Stenhouse Muir on Saturday and Ajax on Thursday.

SPEAKER_05 5:17

That would be amazing. It was one for the purest, though, wasn't it? The uh the Dunferman Falkirk game. I think Dunferman went through without having a registered shot on target. And I if if that doesn't sum up Scottish football at its most elite level, then I don't know what is that not how Celtic got to the semi-finals as well against Rangers? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

It's 120 minutes, I'm never getting back of my life.

SPEAKER_05 5:42

Yeah. I I think it's um like you were just saying there, Andrew, oh you know, it's good it's good when our lower league team gets to to the final and stuff. I think there's there's always kind of like two ways of looking at it, I guess. Like, because the the the first way is like, well, maybe the luck of the draw means that you can get to quite an advanced stage of the cup without necessarily having to have done too much work to get there, like if you're playing lower league or even non-league sides on the way there. But you you kind of can't say that about Denfermo, like the fact they've just knocked out a very good Falkirk side as well. And in the round before six, yeah, oh yeah, yeah. And they also knocked out the holders in in the round before as well, Aberdeen. And it wasn't like a scuffy one-nil or on penalties, it was three-nil. Like they absolutely trenched them, deserved to go through. So, and and and obviously, like we might talk about it as we talk about the lower leagues and the way that those those those leagues are shaping up. But the run that they've been on in recent weeks and months is is been incredible. The job that Neil Lennon's done there's been quite impressive, I think, after quite a slow start. Um, I've got to say though, I I was surprised, given how good Falkirk have been at so so many points of this season, that there wasn't an extra gear or something. It looked like they could go up. They just didn't quite look like they were they ever really arrived in that game properly, I would say, especially given what we've seen of them in the league this season. But um all credit to Dan Furman because you kind of the thing it reminded me of as well slightly was uh I remember when Rangers got to the UEFA Cup final back in 2008, uh, under Walter Smith in his second spell, the the brand of football was fairly agricultural. I I think people called it Watanaco at one point. It was very much like be defensively sound and we'll take our chances, and like Rangers without being overly attacking and setting themselves up on the counter and all of this stuff, made it to the final. And you know, you've got to be careful what you say, but a a very uh potentially roided up um Russian team in the final. But um but that's how they got to the final as well, and they were beating teams that on paper they shouldn't have beaten. But that's been then Fermwyn's route to the final, so all credit to them. And as a unit, they were very compact, very tight, didn't really allow Falkirk too much and kind of stuck to their chances and and they kind of won the lottery ticket in the end, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

Yeah, I suppose they did. The Falkirk have had a wonderful couple of years under John McGlynn, and it would have been the kind of the the cherry on top a little bit to get to a final after everything that has been achieved. But it that that shouldn't take away what has been achieved. I'm just kind of thinking it's very difficult for sides, and I'm looking at teams like Dundee who come up and they get they reach top six, and it's very difficult to replicate that in your second season back just to not get a cup final when it was asking for it, it was right there for them. They just couldn't get over that line. It must be quite disappointing, Laura, for fans that that always have to go through the mire. You go down and then you come back up, and then you go down, then you come back up. A chance to get to a final is so so good for Scottish football fans. And Dunfermland fans will look forward to it.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Of course they will, and they'll they'll see it as a real opportunity that they can actually take it and and and do something with it. Because I don't know who kind of had any hope for St. Miren going into their game against Celtic, especially after what happened after what 56 seconds or so. Uh they bring on a 17-year-old goalkeeper after 14 minutes. Um, you're thinking St. Miren are are here for the taken. And yeah, I mean, look at the the fight, the the heart they showed, particularly the second half, um, going in towards that last kind of 15 minutes, that never say die attitude. If Dunfermline go into the final with that, this this trophy's here for the taken for anyone right now.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Anyone, anyone, you know, anyone between Dunfermline and Celtic. Do you remember the last time that Celtic and Dunfermline played in a cup final? In the Scottish Cup final.

SPEAKER_05 9:46

2007. Bing, we're done. Was that the game? Am I am I confusing it with something else? Maybe it was a bit later. I seem to remember randomly there was a cup final, and it was Celtic against maybe. I thought it was Denferma, but maybe it was Kamarnica or something like that. Where it was like an was it an on-loan guy, a defender, Doom Doombay or something. And he he basically didn't play all season but played in the final and scored a cup winner. Was that that game?

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right. It was uh Jean-Joe Perrier Doombay. He was on loan, he was he was on loan, I think, as well. Uh he was on loan from Ren.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

And who was the captain that day that Celtic beat Denfermlin?

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Neil Lennon.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

It was indeed. There you go. And who was the manager? Oh no, it wasn't Matter Neil. It was almost gone full circle there.

SPEAKER_05 10:40

Yeah, no, I do feel Celtic versus Den Ferman, or weirdly, Rangers versus Den Ferman, is a very 2000s cup final. I feel like Den Fermine have made like a hundred cup finals over the last 20 years, not as much, you know, in recent seasons, but they were always like the losing finalists. There was just like a spate where Den Ferman kind of always got to a final and then always got pumped by one half of the old firms. So uh hopefully it's not that way this time. This might be their day in the sun, but yeah, Exceltic go into it as heavy, heavy, heavy favourites.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

But you keep saying that, but like, do you know what? We should doff our caps to Grant uh Tamozeph Zephis. Ah, I can't get his name. Tamoszephichis. Tamoszephis? Not 100%. I may be ruining that. Sorry, go on, Laura.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

No, no, no, no, don't pass to me.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

All right, no worries. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Sorry about that, Grad.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

Uh, but it's 17-year-old goalkeeper getting thrown in in a semi-final, uh semi-final of the Scottish Cup, and he actually did pretty well.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Yeah, it was it was just a shame we never got the the kind of Hollywood end of uh going to penalties because he could have had his Conrad Logan moment in the sun. Oh wow, but but um no somebody capitulated in the space of about four minutes, so that never happened.

SPEAKER_05 11:54

Just on the on on the whole thing of of extra time and penalties, because uh you raised this as a qu a potential question, Laura, and I've definitely felt this about international tournaments where the players are all shattered anyway, and like to me, the complete pointlessness of a match ending and then playing a further half an hour when all the teams will have to play to like two three days later tops, it just it seems like such a waste, and also surely, especially for a neutral, I know penalty shootouts are nerve shred nerve shredding for the fans involved, but for a neutral, like the drama is so much greater at a penalty shootout. And when you've when you've had the type of finish to the match like it was uh at full time, where St. Marina got that late equaliser and they they brought themselves back into it. Is is it going to come to a point where we do scrap extra time?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Well, what's what's what's the benefit of it? Who actually gets something out of it?

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Because well, well, it means it means that the game is won on the pitch, if you know what I mean. It's won by the truest form of the game, which is which is you know the full pitch. It's not going to be done. And that you're you're you will have people, and I've been there in the past where I've said it's a it feels like a bit of a lottery. We've had this discussion on the podcast before where we kind of Finn vehemently defended the fact that it is an art uh penalties, and you do now see the drama of it. Do you know what I really love about penalties? Is when you see the opposition goalkeeper, or recently, somewhere I think it was in Turkey, where you had a ball boy steal the opposition goalkeeper's water bottle, which had all the where where the opposition would normally take their penalties.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Is this not the uh Afcorn cup final that was something to do with?

SPEAKER_02 13:41

No, no, it was just something else, but it was I do uh which was another reason why we should just go straight to penalties.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Honestly, I mean like it's I'm I'm sure the sports scientists would be behind it as well. The amount of football that these players are playing, that the neutral I don't know, unless you're a paying fan in the stadium, I don't really know who actually gets something out of it because every there's drama in any shootout. It does not matter who's playing or if it's your team or not. Everyone loves a penalty shootout for a bad drama. Just get straight to it.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

You you asked most of the players. I think most of the players would probably agree with you too.

SPEAKER_05 14:14

Well, I but that's that's the thing, and and like obviously, like to look at the game yesterday, it was 2-2 at full time within a space of six minutes. Celtic had scored four goals, but that that really is such an anomaly. Even sometimes a goal in extra time is an anomaly because you're getting to a stage where the players are so tired, neither team they're not so much thinking about getting the winner, they're just like, I just don't want to lose. And obviously, there's a there's a little bit of a collapse, like the floodgates open once once St. Murren concede that goal, right? I think it was like the 93rd minute or whatever it was. To to go back to your point, Laura, about like player safety and stuff, like where all the data shows that players, especially at the elite end, like players that are playing in maybe a top five league, they're playing in European football for most of the season as well, which has also just recently been expanded. Then they're not getting a summer off or very little time because they're going to international tournaments or even just like these stupid international friendly windows that are during the offseasons or whatever. The there are too many games. So to give them more football to play, which statistically very rarely results in that needle getting shifted anyway. I mean, there are arguments the other way because you think of some of the games where it has gone to like extra time in Champions League games or something like that. But yeah, I think broadly, I'd like let's just do away with it, honestly, just straight to penalties. The same in the round before when it was the the old firm game at Ibrox, nothing happened. Like it was just a half an hour of absolute nut just go to penalties, just go to it straight away. And I think you also lose less of the momentum that way because you've got that break after full time to get a bit of a reorganization. You've got the we switch ends, dude. I love it, like all this stuff, just go straight to penalties, I think.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

The other side of it as well, and number I would also have gold and gold. No, I would bring back gold and gold, bring it back, bring it back, baby. Golden gold.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Honestly, that sounds great. It's one of the worst things I've ever came into football. Even the silver gold is better.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Well, I mean, if you think about it, back in the 60s, it was decided by a coin toss. But okay, that's that was when it was really bad. Let's be really gentlemanly about this, boys, and let's make it 50-50. Uh can you imagine?

SPEAKER_05 16:34

Can you imagine an old firm game being settled by a coin toss now? Just the thought of that is horrendous.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

The refs would have to go into like a glass box.

SPEAKER_05 16:49

First of all, wouldn't he?

SPEAKER_02 16:52

We're going to controversial lanes now, and um and it's a segue into a weird story that came out over the weekend that Michael Stewart got banned from Hamden by the SFA because they just don't like what he's saying. Uh, it sounds a bit like Mabo, you're not playing anymore. It's weird, right? And kudos to Premier Sports, by the way, for sticking them in a truck. Kudos to the creativity of whoever said, Um, Michael, just hide under your jacket and reveal yourself, it'll be really fun. I thought it was quite good. Honestly, it's good to get a bit different.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

It was fun. I am actually of the the mindset that Premier should just not have broadcast the Celtic game, the submitted Celtic game. Um, it's the only way to have sent a clear message. They are a paying customer of the broadcast world. They have paid their money to cover a game, and the SFE should not be determining who works for them on these matches. Uh where do you draw the line? I mean, do they do they pick the line up now? Do they tell you who works in production and um who's going to be the director that day as well? It's to actually say you're not allowed in the stadium or even in the trucks, which is a production place. Like there's no checks on obviously there's checks because there's passes and everything, but they don't have security checking your face and saying, No, Michael, you're not allowed in today. This is um uh a no-go zone voy for you. It's they have paid their money to cover Scottish football, and if they had stood their ground and said, No, that's a paid member of our team, and we're backing him because it's just at the end of the day, it's an opinion, freedom of speech of all that. Um it would have made a point because the SFA would have gone, hold on a minute, what you mean you're not going to broadcast Celtic playing in a semi-final of a competition, and they would have shot the bed.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

I wonder if that I wonder if that that would have I'm not even sure if that could be on the table with like contracts and obligations um for the broadcast, for instance. I mean, they would have they would have probably been hosts and therefore hadn't having world feed requirements for takers across the globe. But I I I take your point, like it is a bit odd to be for a for a football organization to decide who is and who isn't allowed to talk about the game on a broadcast. It it seems like a little bit of a dangerous path to go down and and it needs an adult discussion about it. I understand that it's delicate, it is delicate because you don't you don't want people to just go off and and put the game in disrepute. I don't really know if Michael's done that.

SPEAKER_05 19:48

I I I I as far as I can tell, because I was I this story kind of blindsided me because I hadn't really been following anything and what had been going on. So I was literally asking you guys, I was like, I I thought it was a like a hoax, like a piss take when I first saw it. I was like, what Michael shoot's been banned, he's in the back of a podcast truck, what's going on? The reason I was laughing there, Andrew, is because you mentioned the word having an adult discussion about this, but this is the SFA we're talking about here, and I completely agree. I think your thing about it setting a really dangerous precedent is absolutely true. Because I I was trying to scope back, I was like, did he say like one really outlandish thing, like one really defamatory thing or something like that? And I can't really find it because all it's all the SFA really said is, well, he just keeps talking about how shite the referees are, basically. Well, he's right. If it had been just for argument's sake, if Michael Stewart had come out and accused one specific referee or the whole thing of like something incredibly serious, like institutional racism or something like that, something that's incredibly libelous. You could understand them taking such a hard line thing. But the guy's basically just come out and said the refereeing, and he said it consistently, the refereeing shite, which is true.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

It's true, it's it's it's not true. And you're never getting back into Hamden in with this attitude. Come on, behave yourself.

SPEAKER_05 21:04

I know, watch out, Fed. You may be next. And no, again, we're getting into the territory of like, oh, but you're just saying that because like your team doesn't get this, or this other team does get this, or whatever it's like. I think every single week you look across our game and there's poor decisions being made at all levels. Like you see them in the championship, you see them even lower down, you see them at the at the highest level. There's the VAR nonsense. At the end of the day, and and this is still the biggest problem, I will still come back to it. I'll say it to them blue in the face and I will die in this hill. The refereeing standards in Scotland cannot improve whilst they are amateurs, they have to be professional. It is baffling that professional sports people are being officiated by amateurs, and that under underpins a lot of stuff. But we're getting slightly off topic. I can't see, and the thing is like regardless of your feelings on Michael Stuart as well, whether you actually agree with what he said or not, ultimately, in the day is irrelevant. I don't think they should be sanctioned.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

People talking about our game in this way is a really dangerous question then, what is the band designed to do? And it's designed, it's clearly sending a message to everyone that if you discredit or if you say something that we don't like about referees, then you're gonna be banned from things, and it's just like we all we all we all love the game and we can all disagree with each other, we all have opinions and we all we all can say what we like and we we're not always gonna agree, and that's what that's why we love football in general, and that's why we all talk about it. We're not we're not ex-professionals, but we've got our own platform that we all listen to, and we all we all work in sport and in football, and it just feels a bit scary then if you can talk about or or just have an opinion on anything because then you think is someone going to say something? It's not the first time it's not the right, it's not the right, it's not the right optics.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

No, it's not. The BBC banned, um sorry, Rangers banned the BBC for I think it was something like seven years because of one journalist.

SPEAKER_05 23:13

They just didn't fan the BBC, they revoked Christopher Bloch.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Yeah, because of one journalist, and they took the stand to then say, Well, we're not going because we back our journalists. Celtic have banned fan journalists from their media um for quite a while now. They even did it from like the women's media, um, which is just weird consider it's a sport that is desperate for coverage, and they're banning fans from there as well now. It's just getting ridiculous. Like, people need to just grow a thicker skin. It's it's a game of opinions, and people are paid to give their opinions, and you can't start getting precious just because you don't like someone's opinion. Just ignore it if you don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

It sounds like it's like a book, it's like parents speaking to their kids. If they don't want to play with you, you don't want to play with them anyway. They're not good enough for you.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

It's like what they always say in TikTok comments: if you don't like it, just scroll on.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

I've said it time and time again, for a jobby team, we broke some good records.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

Alright, so we didn't spend any time on the lower leagues on our big comeback. So let's kind of rattle through things now. Starting with the championship, we'll just do it in the kind of toppy doony way. St. Johnston can win the league, the championship, away to Dunfermline, who have a lovely trip to Glasgow coming soon. Uh, don't know why I said it like that. But they could win it on Tuesday at Dunferlin, which is mental. Uh, I did remember hearing that uh Dunfermline players had to come back for recovery, which sucks that they can't get on the pints. Even more though, now I realise they probably St. Johnston are going to win the league and straight back up. Well done to St. Johnston.

SPEAKER_05 24:56

Not really good. I mean, we've seen teams go down to the championship from the premiership and struggle down there. So it it is actually quite an amazing feat for St. Johnson to do because you you tend to lose obviously quite a big portion of your playing staff dropping down a division. You need to get players that will get you out of the championship. That's a slightly different thing to um the type of squad that you would need to stay up and compete in in the top flight. And I think it's also credit to St. Johnson as well, who'd had a turbulent couple of seasons leading up to this. Like we'd had a few fans on talking about how historically, or certainly over the last like 20 odd years, they'd been quite a well-run club, but they'd kind of lost their way, been a bit of a change of ownership, and and just certain things had uh had kind of fallen by the wayside. But um, they made the decision when they they brought in Simo Vallicari last season, kind of knowing that the the odds were against them to stay up. But they were like, if we go down, Luke, we'll stick with Simo Valacari because we like the football he plays. We think he's he can be a long-term benefit for the club, and it's it they've been rewarded for that decision. So it's good to see them get back up. And they're you know, they're in one of Scotland's biggest towns, they've got a great ground, good support. So it'll be good to see St. Johnson come back up because I think even if they don't do it our way to Dunfermline, because it's not an easy task, um, I still think they'll be the ones to come up anyway as champions.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Uh league League One and Vanesse are looking good, Laura.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Yeah, I mean what I think two years now they've been down to League One uh from the championship. Um, yeah, they can win it away to East Fife next weekend again, only a couple of games left. So strong one for them.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

And Queen of the South are in the playoffs. Yes, to a draw with Pierre Head, last minute equalizer, pretty much. Sorry, I'm just getting in there.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Well, fine, and I'm just gonna get in there that uh East Co Bride are on the brink of back-to-back promotions as well. They are sitting pretty at the top of League Two. They beat Edinburgh City the weekend two games ago. It is only a point ahead, though, so it's by far not wrapped up in the slightest. But yeah, back to back would be pretty impressive for them.

SPEAKER_05 27:03

Can I ask Laura? Because you you only know East Co Bride better than than either of us, because obviously that's that that's kind of where you're from. But does that surprise you about the back-to-back promotions? Because I I know obviously they've they they were in the lower leagues for a while, but they they've always seemed like quite an ambitious club, quite a well-run club. And obviously, the the slight change to the pyramid we've seen, or the pyramid system, sorry, at the bottom end of the Scottish League, where you could formally not get relegated out of the league system. Now you have done, we've lost quite a lot of you know old and storied clubs, but it has paved the way for clubs like Cove Rangers and East Cobride getting into Kelti Hart's getting into the league system, and maybe those slightly better run, dare I say it's slightly more ambitious clubs getting the chance to prove themselves at a higher level. Is it surprised to East Cobride getting to where they are?

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Not really surprised. They they really needed this pyramid system to really kind of push on um because they it did feel like for a town of East Cobride's size, not to have a club in the SPFL was just madness all these years. So the chance they they obviously tried a couple of times, failed, couldn't get up, finally made it over the line. Um there's there's there's been money put into this club, they're very well run, they've got a good ground as well in K Park. It's um they should be higher than they are, and they're finally finding their feet and going places, and this is just something that it's a statue, it reflects the size of the town. Um, and there there is no local town. Like when I when growing up, people would kind of say there's your local team, and I'd be like, Well, technically, probably Hamilton uh by mileage, or even Hamden by mileage. Um, there is no local team for for people from East County to kind of fall back on. But funny you're you're talking about that pyramid system because the latest that came out uh this weekend is that Lone League winners Lilith Go Rose, who clinched the title at the weekend there, they're not going to play now in the playoff semi-final against Borough Rangers. The reason being for that is that they um are no longer eligible because they never got their bronze license criterion. And this might sound familiar because we covered this a couple of years ago when Bucky Thistle never got their bronze criteria. Yeah, it's quite complex. Um there's a lot of reasons that come into it and stuff, but basically, um Lilith Gold Rose asked for an extension. They I think what it comes down to is they didn't get their um finances audited in time, and it's just been this sort of like paperwork that has screwed them over. Their stadium's fine, I think, uh, for going up, but it's all been paperwork behind the scenes that hasn't been done in time. And the SPFL have just said, nope, absolutely not, you're not playing the game, you're out. And instead of even giving it to like one of the teams that maybe set it finished second, um, they've just given Rora uh Rangers a bye into the final where they'll play Edinburgh City for that place in the SPFL. So a little bit controversial, but I mean, everyone knows about the bronze license, so just get it done, guys. Just get it started if you want to go up. You've had all season.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

Yeah, it's tricky, it's tricky. There's going back on East Cook Bride, though. Um, the most roundabouts on the planet is East Co Bride. So I'm not surprised that they've done well to um dizzy their opposition as they approach the stadium. Um, and also managed by a friend of the podcast, McKennedy. Today was his birthday. Happy birthday to McKennedy. Okay, like probably the best bit of the podcast. So I hope you're still listening. Uh, let's talk about the World Cup. What's been happening, Laura? Because I'm I'm deep in planning for the zone, baby. So I don't really know what's happening because we've got our own plans.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Honestly, like I at this stage, I'm just gonna tell myself that when Kenny McLean hit the back of the net against Denmark, we just won the World Cup and everyone lived happily ever after. And then actually have to go to America at this rate because they're just sucking all the joy out of actually reaching a tournament. Um, the latest being that uh not, oh, if you if you've paid 80 pounds, sorry, 80 dollars for a train, don't worry because we have buses that cost$90.

SPEAKER_02 31:49

Oh, case up.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Or if you're in New York, if you're in New York, you can pay$150. Or you can just go, do you know what? Fuck that, I'm gonna walk. You can't walk, because apparently it's illegal to walk to the stadium in New Jersey.

unknown 32:05

What?

SPEAKER_02 32:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, I've done I've done games, I've done games at the Met Life, and it is covered in like motorways. It's so definite like yeah, I know people are joking and laughing at the idea of like, well, America better get used to like 3,000 Scotland fans walking and saying, it will be very difficult, it will be tricky, like it ain't easy. Every time it we stayed in Hobart and basically had to like get a 20-minute car every time, and it was always difficult. And the MetLife was also wait a minute, it's not the MetLife, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Well, no, I'm gonna say, luckily, we won't be playing there um unless we get to the final. And at that point, I think there'll be a march down the actual motorway, so we won't have to worry about that because the whole country will be over it by that point. The other nonsense that's going on. I mean, where do you uh there's a long list here? How how long have you got tonight? Tailgating has been banned, which is just the nat like the sporting culture in America is now not allowed at a sporting event in America. For anyone who doesn't know what tailgating is, uh, where have we been? But it's basically because the stadiums are in the middle of nowhere, they have so many car parks around the grounds because everyone drives to games over there, that is what they do. Um, and they all drive and park and take over the car parks basically, and they set up barbecues and bring their drinks and food, and everyone just sort of mixes with each other and has a fan party.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

Um, so I experienced this, Laura, like in in America.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

So much fun, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 33:37

It's incredible. So I did the it was when Colombia played Argentina in the Copa America final, which I was doing replays for, and it was pillar, but forget it. Like put it aside with the fact that the Colombians basically broke through security and were climbing through the air vents like John McClain at the diehard to get into the game. Um, but the the whole build-up to to like just getting to the hard rock stadium, there was rows of just like hot dog stands, barbecues, music, people dancing on the roads. It was awesome. I just it just it sucks.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

It's it's like it's like a it's like a four-hour party in the build-up to these games.

SPEAKER_02 34:24

And you do it in the car park as well.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Yeah, oh it's so good. And it's it's a chance, it's a chance for I mean, everyone talks about the World Cup being a football festival and and meeting all these new people, it's a chance to really go out there. You you you want to get to a ground as early as possible, which is so unlike the culture in Scottish football, and just be there nice and early, soak it all up, make friends, drink, have have some food. It's and you think because oh, there's a World Cup in America, amazing. This sounds perfect, and oh no, let's ban the one thing's actually fun.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

They're totally sanitizing the game, even more so adding a blooming halftime show with none other than the most boring band in the world, Coldplay, Chris Martin.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

I think they're definitely I think they're definitely organized, like they're lab behind the the planning of it and the direction of the show. I don't know if they're actually playing at it or not, but um, either way, a 25-minute halftime uh in the final. Again, that's bogging. I'd like to know what the uh sports scientists say about this because that's quite a drastic uh toll on the body at that stage of the game. Can we actually think of the athletes in that part part of it?

SPEAKER_02 35:32

Well, they'll be used to it though. America is certainly used to it, but the whole world is.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

If we're not used to it, Andrew, I mean we're playing in the World Cup final, then I want to have a normal 15-minute break, thank you, so that our players aren't getting uh tired. But yeah, no, that's that's nonsense. We've got obviously the the extra water breaks, which is just glorified advert breaks. We all know that that's just a cover-up for that, which is just a joke. There was uh talking about there was talk of the panini sticker packets being like two quid a packet for what is six stickers.

SPEAKER_05 36:04

I think you know, above all of this, right? So because we're talking about all the stuff that's going on in the States, um, and I I think all of us, there's a certain level where you expect the prices to be hiked for a World Cup. And you always hear every single, you know, every four years, some guy from like Colombia and he's like, Oh, I sold my car to get here. Like, you know, people make sacrifices in order to follow their team around the world. This is next level, and the rank profiteering that they're doing, which they're allowed to do because it's in the American law, is not not doing being done quite the same way in Canada and it's not being done in Mexico because they have laws literally to protect against that. Of all this stuff, I mean it's it's disgusting and it's disgraceful, and it's totally miserving the fans and the players, who are the two most important elements of this spectacle: the fan culture of the World Cup and the players that will be playing in it. All of that, I mean, it's it's part of the reason why I I've had to make the decision I can't go to America. I I can't afford it. I literally could not afford to fly halfway around the world, which would empty my bank account before I even got there. And that's before match tickets, it's before food, accommodation, driving, anything else. But the one thing that sums up to me the state of FIFA and this is two pound a fucking packet of panini stickers. The game is gone at this point. Like all the other stuff I could kind of handle to a point. Two pounds a packet of panini stickers, that is honkin. And there should be something where the I don't know, the sport of courting arbitration or whatever steps in because this should not be allowed.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

I'd rather pay two pounds for an actual panini. Thanks very much. You'd like anywhere for two pounds these days, mate. Just a panini, mate, and an execution.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

It cost me 18 pounds. I've not even got a shiny. Just want to drop again, shiny. What do I have to do?

SPEAKER_02 38:04

So good. Uh should we talk about Ollie McBurney? Poor little, poor, poor, poor wee, tiny Ollie McBurney.

SPEAKER_05 38:13

Andrew, like you need to set up the story and then give us your point because it's not often that you're the one that's vehemently taking a massive stand in something, but I'd love you to share it.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

You've built me up there. So Ollie McBurney phoned Daddy Clark to find out why he's not getting picked for the game, which sounds very much like the wording of that is very choice there, Andrew. I know, I know. I'm basically I'm picking a fight here. Uh the the whole concept of phoning an international manager. So Oli McBurney hasn't been picked for how long? Like seven years?

SPEAKER_01 38:48

I think the last time he actually played for us was when he scored the penalty that got helped us get to the the Euros against Serbia. I don't I don't know if he played again after that, but that's been the last major thing that he's done for us.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Right. So he's not played for Scotland since then, and he's having quite a good season. So he phones up Steve Clark and says, Why am I not getting picked? Or what do I need to do to get picked? And I just feel like that's no that's not the done thing in international football when he's not really your manager, right? You don't work for him day to day. So you've got to prove yourself in the pitch and you've got to do everything, you've got to make it impossible. Bear in mind, Olive Burke hasn't even been picked for Scotland, who's having a great year out in Germany. But McBurney thinks that he can phone Steve Clark and find out what the reason is. Now, I don't think that's cool or fair. It's not like it's a day-to-day job where you're maybe not getting um the credit that your manager or your boss uh should be giving you. So you can you pull them around and you just be like, hey mate, like what's going on? Like, I did that and I did that, and you know, you're you're getting you're giving them the credit. This is a guy who's like far above that. This is the elitest level of of football. I don't think it's the done thing. I think if anything, he's harmed his reasons. But you guys seem to think it's totally normal when I think I think you're just woke in football.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

No, you you you're wording it like he you know the exact wording of his conversation. Um, we don't know if he phoned to say, Why am I not getting picked? He could have just phoned to say, is there a chance that I could get picked? Or what do I need to do to get picked? It's even worse. It's even worse.

SPEAKER_02 40:37

Clark should be phoning him. It's not up to McBurney to phone him and be like, hello, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 40:42

And by the way, why should Clark be phoning him to say No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 40:45

He doesn't need to phone him because he doesn't want to pick him.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

I I just don't see what's wrong with a player showing a bit of appetite and saying, Look, boss, I am desperate to get back involved again. What do I need to do? Tell me what I need to do. Do I need to play more? Do I need to play better? Do I need to take a move in my my my um domestic like my my career?

SPEAKER_02 41:06

The tactical way of doing that would have been to speak to maybe a coach. You don't go to the manager. I don't I don't even think it's right in the international level to be doing such a thing. I I a footballer might tell me differently, but I look at it and think, like, hold on, if you're gonna get picked, the manager will phone you. You don't go the other way. I think it actually sets them back.

SPEAKER_05 41:29

The other the other layer to this that you you were mentioning was that there was the kind of like not an altercation, but with McBurney, he basically was he not kind of caught on camera saying F that of turning up for a friendly or whatever, which uh my feelings on international friends are they're totally pointless unless they're literally warm-up games right before a tournament. So um I can understand that. And we've literally just been talking about player welfare and the pointlessness to me of especially the ones that travel halfway around the world to play a game that doesn't mean anything in in this day and age is ridiculous. But I I I I I agree with Laura because I think within the context, if he'd been like a young player and he'd he'd been feeling like, oh, I've been having a good season, why is the manager up looking at me? I I I think you you've not quite earned your crust there. The fact is, whether or not you think he's a good striker or not for Scotland, Olimac Burnley was a fixed part, he was a starter for Scotland for a number of seasons and did play under Clark as well. And and he's now lost his place, he's not in that squad. So I think he has every right to, as Laura says, not demand a place back in, but to be like, look, what have I got to do? Because I feel like I'm in a good place, I'm having a good season. I think also within the context of there are certain areas of the squad that I think uh the national team rather, that I think were were pretty good. Midfield, we're pretty good, you know, like Ballon d'Or nominated players and all the rest of it, you know, Premier League captains, like we're pretty good in midfield. I don't think we can see the same up front. I know that Clark's got his boys, and I know that the likes of Lyndon Dykes and Shea Adams have done turns for us and they are useful within that. But personally, I don't think well, I don't think Dykes is playing at a level that in an international striker should really be leveling at, if that makes sense. I know he's in the championship and he's had an all-right season, but he's had to have a move. And international football is a weird thing because you can get players like McFadden or whatever who were like good good at at domestic level, but they turned into geniuses when they got to the international stage. McBurney's not quite like that a bit. I I j I just can't see any reason why there's there is anything wrong with a player who has been a fixture of the international squad in previous years in a World Cup year in a position where there is some dubiety about who's actually good enough to go and having the best season, asking that question of what I need to do to go.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

I I I don't agree. I that you're basically you're the player and you're saying you're insinuating perhaps that you're better than the players that are being picked. As far as I'm concerned, that's that's how I read. That's how I read between the lines. You know, if you're good enough, you'll get picked. We might disagree, we might all disagree with Clark and think that McBurney should be picked, but he's got his reasons. But I don't I think the idea of picking up the phone and phoning the manager and going, What do I need to do? I I don't think that's a realm that should exist. I I think it's a realm that exists in club football, and I think that's fine, because that's who pays your wages. But at international football, there's a line, and the international players will get picked. But if you you don't you don't make the call and be like, Oh, hold on, wait a minute, just don't forget me. Like that'll happen. And we've lost players for that as well. Eden McGiddy went to play for Ireland rather than Scotland. Mistakes have happened, but there's a line. You don't suddenly think I might just phone him and because why is why is he phoning him? Why else is he phoning him? He wants a call-up, yeah, of course. So he's influencing it, so he's influencing it with a call-up. He should influence it by the football on the pitch, not by a phone call to remind them. By the way, he's got his people out watching everything, and it's not it's Clark's decision. Clark will watch everything and make the decision. He doesn't need a phone call, he doesn't need a phone call from players because if McBurney gets called up next time, that's going to open up a whole world of every footballer is going to start phoning up the manager of the international team and going, Oh, well, hold on, yeah, hold on. McBurney did it, I might do it as well. It doesn't work that way.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

I take I take that point.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

Or it shouldn't work that way. I could be wrong.

SPEAKER_01 45:42

But I think this is different to the likes of someone who's on the cusp of like being eligible and they want to try and have a conversation to see, yay, look, we're we're watching you um stick with this uh or fear of you know Anidimigiri going to a different country. I just I feel it because as what we've been saying, he's been involved before. This is about him coming back to to try and push to get into the squad again. Look, it it could be completely.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

What about Kieran Bowie's Verona, who's doing well in Italy and hasn't been called up? What about the young players that we want to see coming through? But that is that's it sets the wrong it sets a really wrong stand up.

SPEAKER_05 46:24

But that's the context we're talking about here, though, Andrew. Like Kieran Bowie hasn't played at all or barely at an international level, the same way Olympic Burney has. He doesn't have the number of caps, he doesn't have the experience, he's not a player towards the latter stages of his career who has a wealth of experience in the same way. But I think there's an argument as well, and again, like you're you're talking about Clark, like all managers are the same, are all international managers are the same. The the weird thing about Clark, and again, we've talked about this on this podcast, is he's got his boys, like he's got his preferences, and to his detriment sometimes, because we look at some of the squad selections in previous camps and being like, why is that player not in? They've been playing electrically, but Clark likes the guys that are tried and tested. And McBurney's not in that at the moment. But I totally respect a player of his calibre and experience within the context of we don't have an embarrassment of riches up front, who is having a good season in a World Cup year, just asking the question look, is there anything else I need to do to get in the squad? Why am I not in? I I I I really don't think there's anything wrong with that. And I I that's exactly the point I was just making before. I don't think Kieran Bowie's at a place where he can pick up the phone and do that. Some players might feel that they've they're entitled to it if McBurney does it. But I I think there's a difference between a player of the level of McBurney or Kieran Tierney or something like that. I mean, Kieran Tierney's obviously in the squad, but I'm talking about that level of player that's been in and around a squad or the setup, who's potentially even been to tournaments, certainly played an important role or was a first pick at some point asking a question, as opposed to younger players coming through or players that have a cap or two, they've been in a couple of camps, maybe they're uncapped, asking that same question. I don't think that's the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

I I don't think it would have happened 20 years ago. I think it's a new thing.

SPEAKER_01 48:23

I think it comes down to a lot about personalities and characters. Like Steve Clark is a man manager, and he will have his individual relationships with different people, and he might be the sort of line manager, boss or whatever word you want to call him, that actually does like to coach one-on-one and have these one-to-one conversations and just have an honest, frank chat with boys straight out rather than skirt around it and oh, go to my assistant, go to a coach and talk to somebody else to lower down. Think of it in everyday life, Andrew, in your your work. If you want to progress, do you go straight to your line manager and have a conversation or use that analogy?

SPEAKER_02 49:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

Do you push yourself? If you have it like pride in your career, do you push yourself in that way? Or do you try and hold back and hope that someone comes to you with a promotion and just sees your wealth, your your value one day?

SPEAKER_02 49:15

Yeah, I mean, exactly. I used I used that exact same analogy, and I said that this isn't that. I said that international football shouldn't be considered that because with that analogy, it's your day-to-day job, which is your club game, not the international, not at the top, top, top level. I think that doesn't work that way. That's why I'm trying to set a bit of a difference maker by saying Steve Clark shouldn't be receiving phone calls from footballers asking for a game. And I'm being a bit petty with the words in there.

SPEAKER_01 49:49

But maybe he didn't, maybe he didn't just ring him out of the blue. We don't know the circumstances where this actually happened in the first place. How did this conversation come about? We don't actually know that if he just phoned him or if it actually came out in a different way. Maybe he was at the game watching him play and he spoke to him after the game. I I don't know. We don't know what the circumstances are.

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Alright, well, we'll all we'll all agree to disagree. The one thing I will say is after after McBurney was found to obviously be joking about not wanting to turn up turn up for Scotland, Clark did defend him at that moment, but he's obviously never picked him on the way. Um right, okay. Uh that's it. We've ended on a high. Uh thanks, Laura. Thanks, Finn. If you enjoyed this podcast, you can tell me if I'm right or if I'm wrong. Get in touch with us. Uh right, bye! Say bye, everyone. Bye, Wave.