The recent Poppy debate.

Just come back from an 11th November memorial service, very moving.

Why can't we work out a better way to settle our differences ?

Most of us can.

Generally speaking, a handful of people throughout the last 200 years are responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths.

Two of them just happen to still be alive and enjoying a fruitful post political career.

It's not about Scotland, England, the poppy or the fallen in recent wars. It's about the avoidance of controversy in a sports match.

I'm sure there are better examples, but what if Germany plays Israel and wants to wear something to commemorate their fallen in the war, or Japan plays China, or any of the multitude of other countries where controversy and strife still exist. Where do you draw the line and who gets to decide what's ok and what's not?

FIFA are on a hiding to nothing so take the only real option they can and that is ban everything and remind everyone that it's a game of football. Nothing stopping the players showing their respect but do they really need to wear a poppy for 90mins on the park to prove it?

Another example of how everyone just loves to queue up to take offense at something or other nowadays.

Now, I'm getting back to the 2nd half. Can't believe the bloody English are 1-0 up, defo against the run of play. C'mon Scotland.

It's not about Scotland, England, the poppy or the fallen in recent wars. It's about the avoidance of controversy in a sports match.

I'm sure there are better examples, but what if Germany plays Israel and wants to wear something to commemorate their fallen in the war, or Japan plays China, or any of the multitude of other countries where controversy and strife still exist. Where do you draw the line and who gets to decide what's ok and what's not?

FIFA are on a hiding to nothing so take the only real option they can and that is ban everything and remind everyone that it's a game of football. Nothing stopping the players showing their respect but do they really need to wear a poppy for 90mins on the park to prove it?

Another example of how everyone just loves to queue up to take offense at something or other nowadays.

Now, I'm getting back to the 2nd half. Can't believe the bloody English are 1-0 up, defo against the run of play. C'mon Scotland.

What's with your pretty pink shirts oh and it's 3-0 by the way

It's not about Scotland, England, the poppy or the fallen in recent wars. It's about the avoidance of controversy in a sports match.

I'm sure there are better examples, but what if Germany plays Israel and wants to wear something to commemorate their fallen in the war, or Japan plays China, or any of the multitude of other countries where controversy and strife still exist. Where do you draw the line and who gets to decide what's ok and what's not?

This just highlights how pathetic some people are (not meaning you Jacobyte!). If we played Germany and decided to wear a poppy, most people would respect the fact that both sides lost fathers, sons, mothers and daughters in the two wars with Germany. Throughout history millions have died because of wars and few blame the other countries of the world for the loss. The problems start when politics and religion, which caused just about EVERY war, get involved.

Most German people don't blame us for their loss and most English people don't blame the German people for our loss- the people were just pawns for the respective governments. I am sure wearing a poppy would be accepted by most nationalities in most situations ... ONE or TWO make a fuss and everyone focuses on them.

This is exactly what happens in the Muslim world. Most Muslims are great people but one or two set off a bomb and suddenly Muslims are bad. Most of us don't believe that but the few who do get all the attention. Not all terrorist are muslims but some people believe all Muslims are terrorists. I work with Muslims and they all happily observed the two minutes silence we had yesterday. Any controversy is created in the minds of people who choose not to show equal respect to all views.

My point being, it's not about the poppy - it's about all of the other symbols the other nations find offensive/non-offensive. One person's pleasure is another person's... and all that.

I'm no FIFA sympathiser, but in the context of the football match and the impossible situation FIFA are in, where they are trying to be as neutral as possible, perhaps for 90mins the relevant home associations could have recommended the players just wear their strip and play the "game".

Now, I'm not belittling the poppy (I'm a wearer and have been directly affected) but I'm hoping this particular controversy and the decision of the FA and SFA to flaunt the rules from FIFA results in the match being annulled and the score reversed... It's the only freakin' chance we'll have of winning that match. Could've played all night and not scored a goal...

I think all footballers everywhere should go on 'strike' in protest (at least for a full year).

Maybe then more Rugby, Cricket and Snooker can be shown on TV.

I have given up watching football. They are all over paid underachievers. The poppy is ironic because it is commemorating the death of any chance of winning anything ever again. Instead it is one humiliating defeat after another.

I have given up watching football. They are all over paid underachievers. The poppy is ironic because it is commemorating the death of any chance of winning anything ever again. Instead it is one humiliating defeat after another.

Yeh if your Scottish that's not saying much for the Scottish team cause England are shite.

Exactly. Scotland will never qualify for anything and England should get there, but humiliation awaits. Rooney has been to three world cups and scored one goal. He gets £15.6 million a year. That is way more than most sports get as annual funding in the UK;

https://www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/current-funding-figures

For the money he is on he should be like Bradley Wiggins or Steve Redgrave and scoring at least one goal per world cup finals. I say cut his funding and give it to someone with the real desire and balls to succeed.

Rooney's salary and International record are separate things.

Whilst i think Rooney is crap, he has helped sell the Premier League as a product to the tune of £8 billion.

Wiggins and Redgrave could never help do that for their own sports, no matter how many medals they win.

Phil Taylor puts all three to shame, anyway.

I am sure Wiggins and Redgrave have done more than the equivalent in terms of generating interest, funding and accessibility for rowing and cycling than Rooney has done for football.

I would like to see darts and snooker as olympic sports.

I am sure Wiggins and Redgrave have done more than the equivalent in terms of generating interest, funding and accessibility for rowing and cycling than Rooney has done for football.

.

I'm sure they actually have. I am reckon aside from actually playing the game Rooney does little else in way of promoting it globally.

The point is, he doesn't need to. £8 billion...

All that money and one world cup. No Euro championship cup.

All that money and one world cup. No Euro championship cup.

Yeah but we can be Scotland 3-0, that's gotta mean something, right?

All that money and one world cup. No Euro championship cup.

English Football and the FA is rotten to the core. The premier league is separate entity made up of 20 equal shareholders, they should absorb the FA and rebuild English International football from grass roots up.

If it were my choice, i'd let monotonous fops like Southgate manage the team for qualifying and then ask people like Pep to manage us for 4 weeks at a tournament for a couple of million and x amount in bonuses depending where we get.

England beating Scotland 3-0 is the country in 12th place on the rankings beating the team in 57th place. Considering the money in the sport in this country that is shockingly bad. The wages of the Man Utd team is as much as the rest of UK sport gets to fund its activities. I would like footballers to be made very aware of that and how little in return they provide in terms of international awards.

Back in the late 1970s early 1980s were getting an excellent return from the clubs, even if internationally we did little.

that's so unlike this place to go off topic