Notes for Expats on Scottish bands touring internationally and features on Scottish music, sport, film and the life written by and for Scots around the world. More →
In 1996, Madeline Albright, then Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State, was asked if she thought the death of half a million Iraqi children due to United Nation sanctions was a price worth paying in the cold war against Saddam Hussein. Her answer, amid much humming and ha’ing, was basically: “Yes”. Albright later castigated herself for [...]
Millions of kids all over the world opened their Santa stockings on Sunday morning to find football gifts of joy: Leo Messi’s garish yellow boots, FIFA ’12 for the X-Box, a new Dundee top. Me, my Xmas football gift came a few days early this year, and the Santa wasn’t a fat man with a [...]
Last week, Sky and ESPN extended their current deal for TV coverage of Scottish Premier League matches for the next five-and-a-half seasons, and at a higher price: £16m per season, 25% above the current rate. The Scottish Premier League’s chief executive, Neil Doncaster, hailed the package as “excellent news” for Scottish football clubs. I disagree.
Mad Christian Harold Camping was reportedly “flabbergasted” that the Rapture didn’t take place last Saturday, May 21, as he had confidently predicted. I am similarly flabbergasted that Kilmarnock weren’t relegated, as I assuredly stated on August 12: “I can’t see them anywhere other than last place.” Camping is now saying the Rapture was spiritual, not [...]
So Stephen Fletcher has decided to join a long list of Scottish non-footballing anti-heroes, from Kris Boyd to… erm… Lee McCulloch? But the once-promising Wolverhampton benchwarmer has applied a novel twist to his retirement from the international scene: doing it by SMS.
“Disgusting and cowardly.” “Pile of pish.” “Absolute gash.” “Twats.” These are just some of the comments I’ve seen from friends in response to the Scottish Premier League’s likely new format: a ten-team league. I’d add a few more: cowardly, short-sighted, and suicidal.
One side effect of the December snow in Scotland, aside from Mrs Williamson and myself not getting to see our beloved Rangers on my Xmas trip home, was the postponement of the SPL brain trust’s gathering to discuss league reconstruction (again). That meeting was finally held earlier this week, though decisions are still a few [...]
With apologies to Harper’s Index, this week Billy runs the numbers over Scotland´s upcoming fixture against the Faroes, Tony Mowbray at Middlesborough, Fife teams in Division One and much much more:
Once again the SPL are meeting to consider a brand new idea that by changing the number of teams in the league, it will dramatically increase the quality of Scottish football. About six months ago they had a similar meeting. Here is what Billy had to say about it then:
