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00:01The greatest show on earth is about to begin.
00:07That is outrageous!
00:09And scores!
00:21Oh dear, oh dear.
00:35That's a howler!
00:40Is this what Scottish football is about?
00:43Delicious!
00:44Oh, what!
00:49Champions!
00:52This has been an absolute burnstormer!
01:01Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages,
01:05it is my pleasure to welcome you for the very first time this season
01:09to A View from the Terrace.
01:11It's a brand new campaign, it's a brand new studio
01:14and it's a brand new haircut, but my name is still Craig Gordon Telfer
01:18and I am still here ranking, rating and reviewing
01:21every single atom of Scottish football
01:24from the superstars at the very top all the way through the pyramid.
01:28It's a very big job, but helping me out are two very big boys.
01:33Up first, it's a man who was once described online as a swagless oaf
01:37and what would happen to a hairy dog tangled in a fence
01:40if it was given human life for 24 hours?
01:42It's Craig Fowler.
01:44Ah, just the two insults to kick us off.
01:47Plenty more where that came from.
01:48I know!
01:50And up next, this man has one of the most distinctive voices
01:53in sports broadcasting.
01:55Imagine Murray Walker and Jerry the King Lawler had a child
01:58and fed it nothing but cabbage and ribs.
02:01It's Tony Anderson.
02:02Hello mate, how are we doing?
02:03Oh, I'm very well and it's great to get the opportunity
02:06to kick off this show with you both.
02:08How are you doing Fowler, how's things been?
02:10Aye, tremendous, had an excellent summer.
02:12Went to South America for three weeks and then I came back
02:15and for the first time in over a decade, I got a season ticket
02:18and what a time to get it because my team are flying.
02:21Three weeks in South America, was it?
02:23Yes, it was.
02:24Somebody is doing alright.
02:26Please do.
02:27And you, your team's doing all bad.
02:29Yes, Dennis, we are doing really, really well
02:31but outside of that I just waited here for four months
02:34until we got the chance to...
02:35Did you build it up for us?
02:36Yeah, it's pretty much, I gave it a wee bit of finishing touch,
02:39polished some of the edge there but it's looking good.
02:41And you know what, it's great to get the chance to spend the time with you.
02:43Three very insufferable people whose teams are doing well.
02:47Enjoy the show.
02:52Right, let's not muck around here lads.
02:55We are almost three months into the new season.
02:57So much has happened, there has been so much action
03:00and I would like to review everything that's happened
03:03in its binary form.
03:04Let's talk about the good and the bad, the winners and the losers
03:08from Scottish football so far this season.
03:10And it's more fun to talk about the losers
03:12so let's go to the biggest losers of them all Tony,
03:15Aberdeen Football Club.
03:16It is absolutely mind-bending watching how Aberdeen's
03:21whole existence is playing out.
03:24I mean now over, going into last season and this season
03:26we're now at five league wins in 32 games
03:29but with this random anomaly of winning the Scottish Cup
03:32in the mixer.
03:33But the bad part of last season has bled into this season
03:37and we're now six games in.
03:39And I saw this graphic kicking about the other day
03:42and it's just a list of the scores.
03:44Pretty self-explanatory.
03:45As you would imagine after what I just said,
03:47none of them have scored.
03:49That is the only bleeding point in getting on the park.
03:52Aberdeen's squad has scored more league goals for hearts this season
03:56than they have Aberdeen.
03:57What are we putting this down to?
03:59I think it must be some sort of satanic pact that was made last season
04:03that when they went to win the Scottish Cup
04:05you will have the time of your life
04:07but then after that it will be completely joyless.
04:09It is mad because the attacking talent in that squad is brilliant
04:13and yet they're not scoring any goals
04:15and they're not even like a defensive team.
04:17It's not like a manager is just sitting to draw every game 0-0
04:20and if you get a goal, all brilliant.
04:22They actually go out to try and attack teams.
04:23They just can't get the ball over the line.
04:25But that's the thing.
04:26If the attacking unit isn't working
04:27then neither is the defensive unit at the moment
04:29because you saw Dimitar Mitov
04:30who was the hero of that Scottish Cup win over Celtic
04:33saving penalties from Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnson.
04:36He makes an inexplicable error
04:38in that defeat to Motherwell on Saturday.
04:40That was like the most unbelievable and yet believable thing
04:44that when Aberdeen missed all these opportunities to score
04:46he's like, well, at the very least they'll leave with a point
04:49and then Johnny Katrumbus cutting inside,
04:52shooting with his weaker foot
04:53and meet off with the worst mistake he's made
04:55in Scottish football so far.
04:57It was just, again, like I say, unbelievable but believable.
05:00Aberdeen are a really proud club.
05:02They're very, and rightly so, very proud of their heritage
05:05and they should be delighted with that Scottish Cup win
05:07back in May over Celtic.
05:08But the more this goes on
05:09it actually looks like Celtic lost the cup rather than Aberdeen won it.
05:13Yeah, I mean, it's hard to not look at it now and think that
05:16that Aberdeen team is the worst team that's ever won a major trophy
05:19in Scottish football history.
05:21But listen, if Aberdeen are the big losers so far this season,
05:25Craig Fowler, who are the big winners?
05:28It's got to be Tony Bloom's Heart of Midlothian.
05:30And we're only five minutes in and already we've become Hearts Fan TV.
05:33Well, to be fair, to be fair, yes, we say the word Hearts quite a lot on this show,
05:37but come on, we have to talk about the team that's top of the Scottish Premiers
05:40that statistically the best team in Scottish football at this point in time
05:43if we're forgetting about the League Cup.
05:44I mean, it's been an absolutely remarkable season.
05:47Not only are Hearts playing this really super high-tempo, aggressive brand of football,
05:52they're getting big wins, you know, they won at Ibrox for the first time in years.
05:56They've also managed to do it by signing these, like, unheralded, no-name players
05:59that have been sourced from various outposts around the continent.
06:02This is the point. This is Jamestown Analytics. This is what it is.
06:05You unearth the gems.
06:06So we're signing guys for the fourth tier of Italian football,
06:09the second tier of Norwegian football, for the Slovakian top flight.
06:12There's somebody coming in from Kazakhstan in January.
06:15It all sounds so simple.
06:16Yes.
06:18How does Jamestown work?
06:19Do you just go on it and go like that?
06:21Cheap, good, send, massive list.
06:25Just sign them all, aye.
06:27Mr McInnes, are you sure? Sign them all.
06:29It seems so simple that why aren't other teams doing this?
06:33Whatever that magic algorithm is that Tony Bloom keeps so secret,
06:36we might never know.
06:38One day we might find out actually exactly what it is.
06:40Maybe it is, Tony says. Maybe it's just cheap and good
06:42and everybody else is just over-complicating things.
06:44I don't know how secret he makes it.
06:45He came and handed hearts 10 million pounds so they would use it.
06:49Oh, what a secret. Please, use it.
06:51I know you're quite a pragmatic guy,
06:53quite a depressing guy at times,
06:55quite difficult to be around, but surely, Fowler,
06:57you must be getting a wee bit carried away at the moment.
07:00Celtic aren't very good, Rangers, even worse.
07:03That leaves it wide open for Hart and Midlothian
07:05to win the Premiership title 25-26.
07:08Do you think that?
07:09No, I don't, for obvious reasons.
07:11Warren!
07:12I think it's come maybe a little bit too early,
07:14but do you know what?
07:15When Tony Bloom spoke to the Hart's fans today,
07:17he says, I'll be surprised if we don't win a league in 10 years.
07:20Surprised!
07:20Initially, I was like,
07:22oh, don't do this, don't do this.
07:23But now I'm kind of like,
07:24well, I can actually see how this model could work.
07:26You bring these guys in on a cheap,
07:28and then guys like Braga, guys like Kizaridis,
07:30have to maintain their form next summer,
07:32sell them on for a few million, reinvest it.
07:34Now I'm thinking, hmm,
07:35a title in the next 10 years could be possible.
07:38You'd be saying that's the model that he's just come up with.
07:41Sign players cheap, sell them for more.
07:43I thought, oh God, Tony Bloom!
07:45I think it's more aggressive,
07:47I think it strips out the emotion of it,
07:48and that you don't just hold on to guys
07:50because they're fan favourites.
07:51Yeah.
07:51Fans are going to get their hearts broken every single season
07:53because these guys are just going to be moved on
07:55as soon as somebody comes in.
07:56As long as they're at the peak value.
07:57Yes.
07:58And as long as they keep doing it
07:59and keep winning season upon season,
08:01then it could happen.
08:02Now listen, that's what's been going on in the Scottish Premiership.
08:05I would like to talk about the big winners
08:07from the Scottish Championship,
08:09and that is St Johnson Football Club.
08:11Top of the table, flying high,
08:13an enormous gap between themselves in second place.
08:15Everything is going in their favour.
08:17I just think St Johnson are basically,
08:19I already feel like that's done.
08:20They've already won the league,
08:22and with Simo Vallecari there,
08:23it just seemed they were quite brave keeping them on.
08:25It's really easy to get rid of a manager of relegation,
08:28but with his style, the way he wants to play football,
08:30it really suits playing a team at the top end of a league.
08:33Yeah.
08:33And then on top of that,
08:34you've got a guy like Josh McPake,
08:35who has been revitalised, re-energised,
08:38and is arguably the best player outside the top flight at the moment.
08:41And a club should always be looking to play
08:42at the highest level possible,
08:45but when they do get relegated,
08:46you want to see them being revitalised.
08:49Yeah, you're going to see it.
08:49But that's been the case.
08:51Relegation's been good at St Johnson,
08:52and when they go back to the Premiership,
08:54and I think it is a matter of time,
08:55they will go back a far better club than the one who left.
08:57I never thought I'd say this,
08:58but St Johnson have got a bit of an aura about them.
09:01I'm stuck with this aura thing.
09:03I just imagine all the farmers coming up,
09:04having a big aura with the tractor,
09:06with the suspension going up like that.
09:12Not every season can be playing,
09:13and it has to be Grumble somewhere,
09:15and it came in the form, weirdly enough,
09:17of a competition, ostensibly for children,
09:20to design a Halloween-themed T-shirt
09:22that would go on sale in the club store.
09:24And there are a couple of designs submitted,
09:26including one by a professional cartoonist called Steve Bright.
09:29That does give me the vibe that maybe they were like,
09:31the stuff that was coming in was rubbish.
09:33Yeah.
09:33We need to have to sell this.
09:35We want to make a few quid.
09:36Steve-o, you still doing that?
09:38You doing a bit of that old painting still, son?
09:40It's like Adam Webb going through all these designs.
09:41These are terrible.
09:42These will never sell.
09:43Get me the number of the cartoonists.
09:46Now, St Johnson are the winners in the Scottish Championship.
09:49Who are the losers?
09:51The pre-season favourites, Ross County.
09:53They have been stinking to start the campaign,
09:56and they're already in a new manager
09:58who's now brought in another manager alongside them.
10:01Tony Doherty replacing Downcowey
10:03and then got Callum Davidson as his assistant slash defensive coordinator.
10:07But if you said at the beginning of the season
10:09that Ross County would begin the campaign
10:11with four points from eight matches
10:13and have yet to actually win a game,
10:15I don't think anyone would have believed you.
10:16It was funny because everybody praised their recruitment
10:18and then St Johnson's initial sign-ins,
10:20everybody was like, hmm, not sure about them.
10:22But I think maybe in hindsight we got a bit wrong
10:25in the fact that County went for these guys
10:26who are experienced players,
10:28played for many years at the highest level,
10:30and now they're dropping down a level.
10:31Don't necessarily have a point to prove.
10:33Yes.
10:33On paper they made a number of good sign-ins,
10:35like Ross Doherty, former Dundee United captain,
10:37and Declan Gallagher, former Scotland international.
10:40Yeah, now he's been made captain by Tony Doherty,
10:42but he has had an appalling season so far,
10:45and it's best summed up by the game against Queen's Park.
10:48They were beating 2-1 at home.
10:49Gallagher was at fault for the first goal,
10:51and then he was sent off,
10:52hauling down Matty Shields,
10:53and you could just see it written all over him
10:56as he lay there, face down on the turf,
10:59just taking it all in this disaster of a season
11:01as the referee's standing there patiently waiting to send him off.
11:04I actually felt, the referee's like,
11:06I feel really bad to him.
11:07I feel really bad that I'm going to have to show him this.
11:09Cos he's lying motionless on the board,
11:11like a dead body,
11:12and the referee's like,
11:13Declan, Declan, Declan,
11:15and then eventually just has to slide the red target.
11:21There's something not quite right at Ross County,
11:23and it'll be very interesting to see
11:25how Tony Doherty extricates the club from their current position.
11:30Tony, let's talk about winners,
11:33let's talk about silly season,
11:34and let's talk about Scottish clubs having a good laugh on the continent.
11:37What a time to see Hibs and Dundee United go to some,
11:40like, massive heritage European clubs,
11:43going to Rapid Vienna, Partizan, Belgrade, Legia Warsaw,
11:46I mean, that's the most successful club in Polish history,
11:49and just cause absolute havoc.
11:50I mean, like, seven goals were scored,
11:52and even if you take away the away side of it,
11:55we saw Kieran Bowie, Paulie, score the greatest goal
11:58a Scottish player's ever scored in European competition,
12:02and it's just, it was so much fun to be a part of.
12:07The videos that we saw from the time in Europe,
12:09particularly saying Hibs away,
12:10I like it, are absolutely fantastic.
12:12Yeah, the one in Denmark where you can see the whole stand,
12:15cause Hibs got the whole stand at the back there,
12:17going right along.
12:24And even, like, people, even outside the stands,
12:26people driving around the airports, doing like that.
12:32There was something so amazing about it,
12:34cause you were going to, like, some of the,
12:36well, the most intimidating atmospheres in Europe,
12:40Belgrade, Warsaw, famous across Europe.
12:42But then when the goals are going in,
12:44and you're playing these,
12:45they've got the huge flares going everywhere,
12:47absolute mad.
12:48And everyone's like,
12:51As always with Scottish football, it was so close,
12:54but yet so far.
12:55Yeah, how do you sum that up then,
12:56the fact that you did come within touching distance
12:58to getting the Europa League football?
13:00It was an absolute gut punch,
13:01and like, now it's like, with all that,
13:03it was like, the six, the six games,
13:05it was like, Thursday, Thursday, Thursday.
13:07Then the league season comes in,
13:09Thursday, Thursday, Thursday.
13:09And then by the time you're out,
13:11I'm absolutely, I was absolutely knackered.
13:13The travelling was mental trying to get back.
13:15And then you've got, and then by the time,
13:16I'm footballed out.
13:17And then you're like, all right,
13:18there's an entire season.
13:21Now, there are some stories in Scottish football
13:23that are a bit more complex
13:25and require a deeper analysis.
13:27So I think this is the perfect opportunity
13:28to talk about the hottest topic
13:31that's in Scottish football right now,
13:32and that is fan protests.
13:34There are three clubs in the SPFL,
13:37all of varying levels.
13:38They're all going through their own additions
13:40of existential crisis.
13:41So I think it's a good idea to examine them,
13:43talk about them, and try to understand
13:45what is going wrong at those teams.
13:47And we'll start with yourself.
13:48First, Craig Fowler,
13:49let's talk about Rangers Football Club.
13:51I think it is best summed up by
13:53the game against Livingston last weekend
13:55where Rangers score a 94th minute winner.
13:57And within about five seconds of that ball
14:00hitting the back of the net,
14:01you can hear the Rangers fans chanting,
14:03Martin, Martin, get to fuck.
14:06Russell Martin really can't do right for doing wrong,
14:09can he?
14:09No, they never really liked him from the start.
14:12They didn't really think he had necessarily
14:13had the pedigree to manage Rangers,
14:15and they just didn't like him as a person, really.
14:17Yeah, you can remove all the pedigree stuff.
14:19They don't like the fact that he puts his hair
14:20around like that.
14:21They don't like what he eats for his dinner.
14:23So when he was previewing the Livingston game
14:26with a pair of glasses,
14:27I saw people commenting on us saying,
14:28he's doing this just to wind us up.
14:31A man wants to see better, and it annoys you.
14:34That's just, when you're in that sort of position,
14:36you really are, it's no one.
14:38You're fighting you're losing battle.
14:39Yeah.
14:39Yeah, and you saw it as well
14:41with the League Cup game against Hibbs,
14:42one of his, again like the living game,
14:44one of his rare high points in domestic football so far,
14:47where during the match they've got the big banners
14:50with Martin's face and the no smoking sign
14:52over the top of it.
14:54And it was that, Patrick Stewart as well,
14:55the chief executive as well,
14:56who they're obviously blaming
14:57for hiring Martin in the first place.
14:59Because obviously,
14:59if you make a mistake of manager,
15:01you have to go yourself.
15:03Straight away.
15:04Now, while Rangers are unhappy
15:05that their manager is a vegan,
15:06I'm going to talk about a club
15:07who are fighting for the very existence.
15:10And that is Hamilton Academico.
15:13You know, the last couple of years
15:14have been really difficult for Aki's fans,
15:16but I think the six months especially
15:18have been incredibly testing.
15:19For breaching a number of SPFL rules,
15:22they were deducted 15 points
15:23at the tail end of last season.
15:24That ultimately led to the relegation into League One.
15:27And then, the day after that,
15:28it was announced that the club were moving
15:30from New Douglas Park in Hamilton
15:31to Broadwood in Cumbernauld,
15:3314 miles away.
15:35A stadium that no one wants to use.
15:36A stadium that no one wants to use at all.
15:38And then it was revealed a couple of weeks later
15:40to be placed under a transfer embargo
15:42for the breach of these rules.
15:43Now, they took on Montrose on the opening game
15:45of the season at Broadwood.
15:47And before the match,
15:47a number of fans were protesting outside the ground.
15:50The footage is actually captured there by a vlogger.
15:52And you can see the fans really unhappy
15:54with the move to Cumbernauld,
15:56the mismanagement in the club.
15:57So, they're in a real sad place.
16:00The fact that the club has been moved
16:0114 miles down the road.
16:03The fact that they are under a transfer embargo.
16:05There is talk of a takeover.
16:06It's yet to materialise.
16:08But Hamilton's position is pretty perilous.
16:11I kind of found it hard to even try to have a laugh about it.
16:13Because it's just really sad.
16:15Like, imagine that happening to your club.
16:17It's like systematic destruction
16:18from the people who are supposed to be custodians.
16:21If you're a custodian,
16:22you're supposed to be looking after the club.
16:24And it's clear that they're not doing that.
16:25Yeah, definitely.
16:26The idea of financial mismanagement.
16:28I think the director of football,
16:30Jerry Strain, particularly disliked at the club.
16:32Wait till they find out he's vegan.
16:33They're going to be absolutely furious with it.
16:36But it just shows the contrast
16:37in what's going on at the clubs.
16:39And if we're talking about a big club and a smaller club,
16:42let's finish up by looking at a bigger club.
16:44And that's Celtic.
16:45What, the biggest club?
16:46Is that what you're saying to me?
16:46Oh!
16:47The big team found!
16:50Yeah, like, with Celtic,
16:52it's more of an existential thing.
16:54I mean, last year,
16:56after years and years of not moving forward at all in Europe,
16:59they finally sort of break through that.
17:01They finally seem to have found their place in it.
17:03And they were really, really unlucky against Bayern Munich
17:05to get knocked out at that stage.
17:07But from then, it was like that moment.
17:09It was like a switch went off.
17:10And it's like, right, we give up.
17:11They started drawing all the games in the Scottish Premiership.
17:13And now when we've come to the summer,
17:15it's like the transfer window just snuck up on them.
17:19Not everyone just completely forgot about it.
17:21And then they had one of their most embarrassing results
17:23in Europe ever.
17:24And they probably...
17:26The Kazakh champions,
17:27they're not a particularly good side.
17:29Yeah, and they went, what,
17:30210 minutes without scoring a goal against them.
17:32So, for the Celtic fans, for them,
17:34the context is everything.
17:36They put so much into Celtic.
17:38They understand that they have probably
17:39one of the most unique situations in football,
17:42which is perfect for maybe making a speculative signing or two,
17:46getting yourself ready.
17:47This season, for example, the Champions League,
17:50that's not going to be as easy to get from now on.
17:51So it seemed sensible this time,
17:53from even a business perspective,
17:55never tell you a sporting perspective,
17:56to really get ready and make sure that we make that
17:58so we can push forward.
17:59But they say, no, do it.
18:00It just always feels like Celtic are run like a tiny club,
18:03despite being one of the biggest clubs on the planet.
18:05It's not quite a scale of Hamilton,
18:07but Celtic fans have got the right to be very angry at their board.
18:10The fans want to feel when they invest so much time,
18:13money and enthusiasm, right,
18:14that they're going to try and break into other parts of it.
18:16I think, as well, the fan protest,
18:19everyone needs to be united in order to make them work.
18:21I mean, Celtic protesting at Rugby Park
18:23at their away game against Kilmarnock,
18:25where the fans were going to enter the ground after 12 minutes
18:28to make the point they are the 12th man
18:29and without them, Celtic won't have a support.
18:33In theory, it's a good idea,
18:34but in practice, I mean,
18:35half the away stand was filled by the time they came in.
18:38So when these fans did turn up,
18:40it looked like a supporters bus had broken down
18:41on the way to the ground and these guys had just made it.
18:43It did not have the impact that it should have done,
18:45because not everyone was pulling in the same direction.
18:47I think a problem with that, as well,
18:49is that you need to vote more with your feet,
18:51like in general, rather than doing these things
18:53where making a protest of coming in 50 minutes later
18:56or leaving 50 minutes from the end or whatever,
18:58you're still giving the club money.
19:00I think the only way that it ever makes boards
19:02set up and pay attention is to withdraw your funds.
19:05Protests can work as well.
19:06I mean, and Tony Hibernian,
19:08they've probably had one of the most famous
19:09fan movements in Scottish football.
19:11Yeah, I mean, we take you back to 1990.
19:15I was four years old.
19:16This is actually my earliest memory of football.
19:18It was Wallace Mercer.
19:19He tried to make an aggressive takeover.
19:22I mean, they called it a merger,
19:23but he was going to use the football club of Hibernian
19:25and Heart of Midlothian.
19:29It was an incredible time because to see,
19:32like, they unified the whole Hibs fan base
19:35and it was like military precision.
19:37They'd done a six-week campaign
19:38where there are buses going through Edinburgh.
19:40Like, this is when Sunshine and Leaf became
19:42the unofficial anthem of the club.
19:44The proclaimers were there.
19:46They were hosting gigs at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh
19:49and it all ended with David Duff,
19:51who was the chairman at Hibs there.
19:53And he wasn't very popular because, obviously,
19:54his financial mismanagement is what led to this situation.
19:57Wallace Mercer needed his shares to get over there.
19:59He actually sat in Wallace Mercer's office
20:02and set fire to his shares in front of them.
20:04So, I mean, this is...
20:05It was such a cultural movement
20:07and the T-shirts were really, really cool.
20:10So, it's like the memory of...
20:11Yeah, Hands Off Hibs.
20:11It's a good name as well, yeah.
20:12Yeah, Hands Off Hibs.
20:13It all really worked.
20:14So, now you can look back at a difficult time.
20:16It's now probably one of the most romanticised periods
20:18and managing to get Tom Farmer to come forward
20:21and save the club like his grandfather done
20:23a hundred years earlier than the exact same thing.
20:26Despite not being involved in football,
20:27it now looks as actually quite a magical time.
20:30Hibs went on and won the Skull Cup that season.
20:31I think in every instance, though, the protest,
20:34they can be justified.
20:35Yes, the barrier for entry might have reduced in recent years
20:38and, yes, if you're just unhappy
20:39the fact your manager's got a middle parting,
20:41then you need to have...
20:43Glasses.
20:43And glasses.
20:44It seems you need to have slightly higher standards,
20:46but I always think that it's all relative to the football club.
20:49The fact that people think Celtic
20:50are the most successful football club in the country
20:52are just unhappy that they're not winning.
20:55Yeah.
20:55They don't have as good a squad as they think.
20:57That's all relative to the fans.
20:59The fact that Rangers fans are not happy with the direction of the club,
21:01it's all relative to them.
21:02The fact that Hamilton fans are not happy with the very existence of their club.
21:06Everyone would be angry about that.
21:07It's all relative to them.
21:08So, yeah, I think that in probably most instances,
21:11protests are correct.
21:12Yeah, everybody in football should have the right, as a fan,
21:16to hold accountable the people who are in charge of their club.
21:18Because without that, then things could get a lot worse.
21:21And nowadays in Scottish football, we have so much foreign investment,
21:24the clubs have never been further away from their communities,
21:26let's be honest.
21:28Especially in Hamilton's case.
21:29Yeah.
21:31And we have to treat that with suspicion.
21:33People have to prove their reasons for being involved.
21:36And protest is the quickest way to do that.
22:01On this side.
22:02I suppose it's like a first love that you can't let go of.
22:06It doesn't actually feel like we've been away.
22:08It seems like we've been more like an exile or something.
22:13We're waiting to come back.
22:23Our journey to our new home takes us past the stadium.
22:27Which is quite ironic.
22:30We finish our game.
22:31We cross down the bridge.
22:34And there they are.
22:36And there we go.
22:44And there we go.
22:47I just wish that they took our thistle part away.
22:50So as not to confuse anybody with what we have going.
22:54Which is the rebirth of a feminist thistle.
22:59My name is Russell Hepburn.
23:00I'm in this thistle obviously my club.
23:02We were formed in 1885.
23:04And we're the inaugural champions of the Highland League.
23:08I was taken to thistle Park from the age of four onwards with family and relatives.
23:13It's always been in my blood.
23:16Growing up as a thistle fan was a great experience because in those days we had brilliant derby matches.
23:23It's a local rival.
23:25We're called Caledonian or Cali.
23:27And that was just a brilliant occasion.
23:29Something to really look forward to.
23:31Previous team our last ever competitive fixture versus Lossiemouth.
23:35That's 93-94.
23:38In 92-93 I think it was.
23:40There seemed to be a groundswell of opinion that Thistle and Cali would have to merge as one team.
23:46The merger of Inverness clubs Caledonian and Thistle became an on-field reality at the weekend.
23:52It's not hard to see why the Thistle fans are so blue.
23:56Dead set against it as all Ardent fans were.
23:59The new team strip is almost a carbon copy of the old blue Cali shirt.
24:04The team's playing in Cali Park with Cali's former manager and most of Cali's players.
24:09It was never a question of would I ever attend and follow that club.
24:13It was never a question so basically that was my Saturdays and the football capacity had gone.
24:18And that was it finished.
24:20To me Thistle were the first and last.
24:21Then once they went I would never have a passion to support another club.
24:26I kind of lost a lot of love for football.
24:30It's been indifference every other Saturday for 31 years.
24:39I got a phone call saying that there was a small group floating the idea of bringing Thistle back.
24:46Obviously I just jumped onto that. It was a no-brainer. Absolutely.
25:01I mean it's Thistle FC founded in 2024.
25:04Gained admittance into the North Caledonian league and that's the sixth tier of Scottish football.
25:11Ah, brilliant mate. They've even got the wonky touch lines.
25:16It's exciting. They've been playing well. It's a good concept and people are buying into it.
25:21Ah, it's a cracker, innit?
25:34So now you have us playing in much lesser league outside of town.
25:40You've got to start somewhere.
25:42It's kind of funny coming here because obviously it's not a stadium as such.
25:46We don't have the main stand, the tin shed and whatnot.
25:48No, there's no admittance fee.
25:49You come for a gate, you're on the sidelines, you're behind this piece of rope and whatnot.
25:54But it's a great hope.
25:57The Jags usually play in the red and black vertical stripes as an acing land.
26:00Today we're playing the waist strip which has always been the sky blue with the purple trim.
26:04I keep saying I'm never going to wear it again because it sounds like 31 years of age.
26:08Can't help it.
26:22I've not seen these guys for years and I know it means as much to them as it means to
26:25me.
26:26The memories and everything just comes flooding back.
26:29It's like a huge reunion on the sidelines.
26:52That's outside.
26:53That's the way.
26:54Go yourself.
26:55Go yourself.
26:55Go yourself.
26:56Go.
26:58Go.
26:59Go.
27:02Go.
27:03Go.
27:05Go.
27:05Go.
27:06Go.
27:10Our ultimate aim is to get back into playing in the Highland League.
27:16For me just getting our club, our colours and Saturdays back.
27:21It's incredible.
27:25Miracles do up.
27:52Now, every nation that's involved with FIFA and UEFA has a summer transfer window, but no one does it quite
27:58as good as Scotland. Craig Fowler, what does the transfer window mean to you?
28:03The transfer window is a special and unique time of the year, especially the summer transfer window, because in January,
28:10there's still a lot of moving parts going on.
28:11In summer, there's no football, and you've drawn a line under what's come before, usually crushing disappointment.
28:17But the summer offers hope. It offers the ability that anybody you bring in can be the next club hero,
28:24the next player to lead you to, like, cup victory or a league title and forever be somebody that's going
28:29to be within your heart.
28:31But even when they're signed from a low level, and some fans are like, well, I'm not sure about this,
28:36there's always an instance of somebody you can fall back on.
28:38Well, well, he came from that level, and he was brilliant. So it's just the time of the year where
28:43everybody's at their most happiest, because anything is possible.
28:46Everyone's at their happiest, but everyone's also at their most curious, Tony, and it turns some people into detectives.
28:52Oh, man, this new thing. People are so desperate to know who's coming into their club. You can't wait for
28:58the tweet to drop.
28:59Everybody wants to be ITK.
29:01Yeah, everyone wants to have that. And my favourite part of this genre that I've seen in recent years is,
29:07there was a guy on Hibs.net called Saul Goodman.
29:09All right? And he, through, like, scouring social media profiles, for this player it was specifically Stefan Omionga, he managed
29:19to figure out that he was leaving at a specific time on us flight, and he managed to look at
29:24the flight times and work it.
29:25Well, that was four hours ago, so that means he might have been on the flight from Milan that was
29:29at 6am, landing at 10 past 8 in Edinburgh.
29:32So he's figuring all this out. And then Omionga posts something on his social media with the sun, and I
29:38quote,
29:39You can see the reflection of the sun in the wingtip of the plane. The sun is rising on the
29:43opposite side of the plane to him.
29:44Ergo, the plane is flying north over the Swiss Alps and not south.
29:49And yes, it might be insane, but he was absolutely spot on.
29:52That's just an incredible level of detail, just to find out whether or not a fairly ordinary midfielder was going
29:59to be during your football club.
30:01Every summer transfer window, that's a time when squads are turned over, and you might see that, like, to a
30:06real big extent, where sometimes 20 players leave, 20 players come in.
30:09But it's normally done over a period of several months.
30:12It's very rare that clubs will turn over the entire teams all on the same day, but that's exactly what
30:18happened to Kilmarnock in the summer of 2016.
30:21On the 30th of June 2016, the then-manager Lee Clark brought 11 players into his club at the one
30:29time, as we can see with this incredible photograph that was posted on Kilmarnock's Twitter page.
30:35Now, I'm going to do my best Norm Macdonald at the YouTube Awards voice here when I list all 11
30:40players.
30:41Callum McFadgen, Josh Webb, Jamie Cobain, Jonathan Byrne, Mark Waddington, William Boyle, Jordan Jones, Martin Smith, Oliver Davis, Solomon Coulibaly,
30:53and Flo Bojaj is here.
30:56The true stars of this period of time at Kilmarnock is the admin staff.
31:00Like, that is an absolute... What a job.
31:02Yeah, yeah, they've all got guys all the same.
31:04We need pensions, we need HR, we need all sorts of cheers, lads, all the best.
31:10They not only had the infamous photo, but they also had a press conference where the journalists spoke to every
31:15single one of them at the same time.
31:16How long's the desk, can you just imagine?
31:19And that's what, again, what makes it so magical is anything that happened last season, it doesn't matter.
31:24Here's a brand new team, they've been entirely signed. Everything you knew doesn't matter.
31:27A lot of the time when we see new players coming in in the summer transfer window, there's a lot
31:31of hype created about them.
31:32You know, they get absolutely fantastic graphics, incredible photographs, you know, there's like a real team of people involved.
31:38You know, Photoshop, After Effects, the works, the hype up these players and make them look as magnificent as possible.
31:45Wasn't quite the case in the summer of 2017 when Stennis Beer signed Ross Dunlop and Mick Dunlop from Albain
31:51Rovers.
31:51And rather than putting them in a glitzy studio and giving them a lot of pizzazz and razzmatazz, they basically
31:56took photographs of them in a McDonald's restaurant, signing their contracts.
32:00As Fowler mentioned earlier, everyone wants to be ITK about the summer transfer window.
32:04But some people like to play pranks.
32:07And our very own Joel Sked fell foul of one of these pranks recently.
32:12Oh, there's this one.
32:13From Handsome Flacco Jodoye, are we looking at Anderlecht Striker Haywood Jablomi?
32:20I need to double it. I need to see if this is actually a real person.
32:23It's like you're getting Bart Simpson.
32:25Yeah.
32:28Haywood Jablomi.
32:30Ah, OK, I see what's happened here.
32:33I've just read that in my head.
32:35Oh, dear.
32:37I bet that will live with me.
32:38I didn't type it in.
32:39I didn't know.
32:41Haywood Jablomi, that will stay with me forever.
32:44Just the saying of him, mouthing the words out, the pennies drop.
32:48I've just been made a fool of you.
32:51Just another day at the office.
32:53There's been a lot of players that have come in over the summer.
32:56Tony, who has been your favourite so far?
32:59Actually, this is really easy.
33:00Emmanuel Longelo.
33:02All right.
33:02That's signed for Motherwell.
33:04He's signed from Birmingham.
33:05He reported like a six-figure fee, but this guy is liquid.
33:09Scottish football.
33:10You cannot miss him on the pitch.
33:12His engine up and down the left-hand side.
33:13He's really good at dribbling.
33:15He drops a little slalom in three players.
33:16But always when it gets to them, he just crosses the ball at the pitch.
33:21So it's mesmerising.
33:22But on top of that, he might not have brought his crossing boot, but he's absolutely brought
33:26his shooting boots.
33:27He's already got four goals from Motherwell from full-back.
33:31Right now, I think he's been involved in 44% of their league goals.
33:35This guy is pure Scottish football, and I hope it just continues to rattle on this way.
33:40There is a lot of football taking place over the weekend, and I think we owe it to ourselves
33:45and to our viewers to select the very best games.
33:48The connoisseur's choice of where to go at the weekend.
33:51And we've got a Hearts fan, and we've got a Hibs fan, and I think in the Scottish Premiership,
33:56there is only one game we can discuss.
33:58The Edinburgh Derby.
33:59Yeah, the pissed-up derby, as it'll be this weekend, because this game is live on the
34:03telly at 5.45 kick-off on a Saturday.
34:06All police leave cancelled.
34:08Yeah, I have no idea how the police actually agreed to this, but do you know what?
34:12Hopefully everybody behaves themselves to an extent.
34:14You still want the tribalism, you still want the hatred, but it should lead, at the very
34:18least, to an absolutely cracking atmosphere.
34:20And hopefully, almost expectantly, surely, surely, with everything going on with both teams,
34:26we should have a good game of football between the two for a change.
34:30How are you feeling about it, Phil?
34:31Are you feeling confident?
34:32I'm actually confident, especially since Hibs have won the last two matches.
34:36One defeat in eight?
34:38Aye, still stings.
34:39I feel like we're due.
34:40Hibs are doing reasonably well at the moment.
34:41Maybe they would hope to be doing a little bit better than this, concerning how good they
34:44were last season, and how good they looked in the European games.
34:48But they're still undefeated in the league, and Hearts obviously spoke about them earlier.
34:52Absolutely flying at the top of the table, Hearts at home.
34:53So, yeah, I do have confidence that Hearts will use that momentum going into this game
34:58to be able to get the better of their rivals.
35:00I'm buzzing about the fact that, obviously, because Hibs are still undefeated, but not
35:04in as a cool way as possibly Hearts, and the hand-wringing that's gone on, as always,
35:08about Hearts being good, it always just hits the stratosphere.
35:12So to do it this time, go to Tyne Castle and beat them, and actually be the only undefeated
35:16team left in Edinburgh, I think will be very, very sweet.
35:20You're pretty confident in this one, Tony.
35:21You're pretty juiced up for it.
35:22All these guys that have come for these lower league teams of that, have you ever played
35:26in the real stuff, where it's like poison?
35:29Everyone's like, how are they going to cope a lot?
35:30Let's find out.
35:32Well, you know, it's something that's a very compelling argument to go to Tyne Castle for
35:37this one, but I suggest that you can maybe make a doubleheader of this.
35:40I'm going to talk about the real Edinburgh Derby.
35:43It's taking place at Ainsley Park at three o'clock between the Spartans and Edinburgh City.
35:47This is going to be a fantastic game.
35:49It's top of League Two versus the bottom of League Two.
35:52I think there's a lot riding in this one.
35:53But really, the teams are pretty evenly matched, because we're talking about a points deduction
35:57that's really making it like this, isn't it?
35:59I think it's important to talk about Edinburgh's current situation.
36:02They were deducted 15 points at the beginning of the season, which really scuppered any hopes
36:06they had of challenging for the title.
36:08They triggered an insolvency event for owing a small bit of money to a creditor, and even
36:12although it was only for such a short period, that comes with a 15-point deduction.
36:16However, it has had a galvanising effect in the club.
36:19They have been chipping away at that 15-point deduction.
36:22They've been playing some pretty good football at the process, and if they can win on Saturday,
36:26it takes them to zero points.
36:27That might not sound like a particularly great achievement, but I think psychologically, it's
36:31enormous for them, and I think that can give them the platform to go and kick up the table.
36:35So, it's not out with the Realms of possibility, but I think Edinburgh could actually finish
36:38in the playoffs this season, even with that points deduction.
36:41Well, I mean, you are quite literally the mouthpiece of Edinburgh City football.
36:45Oh, yeah.
36:47I don't mind saying that.
36:48I think Edinburgh City could take on Real Madrid, and I think Michael McAdoo's team
36:53have got a wee bit of a chance here.
36:55But it's also still going to be a really tough game, because the Spartans are flying at the
36:59top of the table.
36:59A four-point lead over the school round.
37:01Not many people saw that coming out of this season.
37:03The teams don't like each other, that goes back a number of years, but the Spartans
37:07do have the edge here.
37:08Last season, they won both encounters at Ainsley Park, so a lot riding on this one.
37:12So, aye, make it a double-header.
37:14Ainsley Park in the afternoon.
37:16Tynecastle, later in the evening.
37:17Well, that all sounds exceptional.
37:20It'll be a wonderful day out, and you're expecting some great football, but it's a little
37:24bit mainstream, isn't it?
37:26I mean, it's all a bit like...
37:27The Spartans versus Edinburgh City.
37:30You're absolutely right, Tony.
37:31Oh, yeah, it's too mean to feel.
37:32I'm sorry.
37:33Did you get a ticket for the Oasis game?
37:34Did you enjoy it?
37:37But to know things that are going to be good, you need things that are bad to have that
37:42yin and yang.
37:43So, I want to take you to, quite literally, the worst full-time team in Scotland, and that
37:50is up the north-east once again, where football is going to die this year, and Cove Rangers are
37:55away at East Fife.
37:57Yeah, it's not been a good season at all for Cove Rangers.
38:00They lost to Kelty Harts the weekend, beating 2-0, and they're actually adrift at the bottom
38:05of League One.
38:06It's not been a good season at all for Paul Hartley.
38:08I think there's been, like, cutbacks at the club.
38:11Yeah, they don't seem to have any players.
38:12No, cutbacks at the club doesn't necessarily be able to recruit the players that you want.
38:16A lot of key players are missing.
38:17Mikey Doyle, one of the most reliable players in the squad.
38:19He's out injured.
38:20Fraser Fivey, Declan Glass.
38:22It's effectively a lot of young, inexperienced players taking their first steps in the game,
38:26smattered with a bit of experience there.
38:27It's not going well.
38:28It's good that you've given, like, a bit of context to people, because for me, when
38:32I was looking at it, I was like, did they not finish second this season and were, like,
38:36on the brink of being promoted to the Championship?
38:39So, I was a bit, that's the reason I wanted to go.
38:40Like, what the hell is going on in there?
38:42And East Fife, they're mid-table, but they've been, like, their games have been really exciting.
38:46I mean, they've averaged in three goals a game this year.
38:49So, even though we're talking about everything that's going to be bad, we're doing it in a
38:52world where I think there's going to be loads of goals and loads of excitement.
38:55Well, gentlemen, I think that'll do us for the time being.
38:59But, before we head up the road, can I ask you both to take me on a little game known
39:04as The Banker?
39:06Yes, it is back for season number eight.
39:10You know how it works by now.
39:12It's me versus The Stink.
39:14Every week, we guess the outcome of Scottish football matches and we get points for every
39:19correct prediction we make.
39:22This week, just like every other week, we are competing for this.
39:25The Eamon Brophy Lone Wolf Trophy.
39:29Bigger, better and more beautiful than it was last year.
39:33You can barely look at it, it's so sparkly.
39:36And it's something that's got wings as well.
39:38Where did they come from?
39:39To fly away from you when you're trying to win it.
39:43No more, Tony.
39:45No more.
39:46That trophy is going to be mine.
39:48And now, Scotland men's team have got two enormous games coming up next week in their
39:53World Cup qualifying campaign.
39:55And to celebrate that fact, the stipulation this week is you can pick from any team in
40:02the SPFL to win, but they must be managed by a former Scotland international or a former
40:07Scotland B international.
40:09So, limited options, but options all the same.
40:14Not as many as you'd think.
40:15But Craig Fowler, we'll come to you first.
40:17What are you going for?
40:18I'm going to ignore Derek McInnesy's humble Scotland career.
40:20Come on.
40:21And instead, I'm going to go for Partick Thistle and Mark Wilson to beat our both at home.
40:28It's a tricky game.
40:30Our both are doing a lot better in the Championship than I think many expected coming out of this
40:33season.
40:33So, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a bit of a banana skin.
40:37But Thistle are just flying at this point in time.
40:39They're winning every single week.
40:40They're playing some really nice football.
40:42And a lot of Thistle fans who, in the summer, were really unsure about how it happened,
40:47how Wilson got the job.
40:48Felt he was kind of like a cheaper option or kind of a lazy option.
40:51And he didn't have the best of managerial careers before that.
40:54But fair play to him.
40:55He's really getting a tune out of this team.
40:57He's absolutely cooking at the moment.
40:58And I'm really annoyed because that was exactly the game that I was going to go for.
41:02Yes.
41:03But nevertheless, still plenty to pick from.
41:05So, I'm going to look very close to home.
41:07And I am going to back Stennisbier manager Gary Naismith.
41:10One of the best left-backs this country has ever produced.
41:13I'm going to back his team to beat Montrose.
41:15Now, Montrose are in really good form at the moment.
41:18Really good form, actually.
41:19Six wins and undefeated in seven in all competitions.
41:22And Stennisbier, yes, they lost against Hamilton Academical at the weekend.
41:25But prior to that, they were absolutely flying.
41:27And I think it's a really good opportunity for Stennisbier to bounce back.
41:30Stennisbier to win.
41:31And a point to me.
41:33Tony Anderson, what's his second pick?
41:35Let's go to Pataudry, where Aberdeen are playing Dundee
41:39with Stephen Presley, of course, having a pretty big Scotland career in the past.
41:45And this seems like two teams.
41:48It's the two teams at the bottom of the division.
41:50And we were talking about Russell Martin earlier.
41:54Another manager who came in and everyone was already unhappy about Stephen Presley, man.
41:58They were not impressed.
41:59And, again, we've got to the same thing.
42:02They don't like the way he sits.
42:04They don't like the way that his hair lies.
42:06They don't like the fact that maybe he's aged.
42:11Since the last song.
42:12But it feels like such a massive game.
42:15I mean, it's huge.
42:16For both clubs, it could be huge.
42:18Because suddenly it could change the whole narrative about him.
42:20He's got a big win away from home.
42:23And, like I said, for Aberdeen, it would really be we are kicking around end of days.
42:27So that's Stephen Presley's Dundee to get the win at Pataudry.
42:30Why not?
42:30Right, now, for my final pick, I'm going to go to the capital city.
42:34There's a very, very big game taking place.
42:37And I'm back in Edinburgh City to beat the Spartans.
42:40It's simple.
42:40Michael McIndoe, a Scotland B cap.
42:44Listen, I would run through brick walls for that man.
42:47I know.
42:47And I'm not one of his players.
42:49I just think it's a great opportunity for the Spartans to extend their lead at the top of the table.
42:54But there's so much riding in it for Edinburgh City.
42:57And if they can get to zero points, particularly against the Spartans, I think it's going to be enormous for
43:02them.
43:02So I am backing the citizens for this one.
43:04Did Sainn have a very good record in the Derby last year as well?
43:07They won two games where they were both at home.
43:09They lost both games away.
43:10Ah, right, OK.
43:11The law of averages.
43:12The law of averages, serious back.
43:14Listen, that's the best thing to put your faith in.
43:17The law of averages, because if you can't think of any rational or analytical reason to pick someone, just go
43:22over the law of averages.
43:23He seems to do this, and that's what you become your tagline, because it's just easier.
43:29Yeah, that's it.
43:30Law of averages, cheers.
43:31A view from the terrace.
43:33The law of averages.
43:36Take, take, take, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,
43:39talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,
43:42talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,
43:50talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,
43:50talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,
43:50talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk
43:53Any other kind, just ignore us and now say
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