WDR

This is a classic case of the sort of abuse which happens when you allow companies complete freedom to treat workers how they like.
Zero hour contracts are a clear attempt to get around the agency worker regulations.
Workers are not objects to be used as pawns for companies to avoid taxes and responsibilities.
They are human beings and must be treated as such.
It's right up there with the new apprenticeships which are being abused as sources of cheap or free labour.
It's very frustrating to see good ideas to help all sorts of people back into work being deliberately abused by employers.
We need to stop blaming governments for writing "shit laws full of loopholes" and instead develop a set of "cultural laws" where clear attempts to defeat the spirit of a law are clamped down on in the courts.

they are an evil invention, but no doubt Stu Dicky will be along soon to tell us they are a worthwhile component in a sound business strategy.
No holiday or sick pay is one thing, however what about training & development or health and safety? These employers expect the state to support poor people just enough for them to survive, but only if they take on these horrendous job offers. In effect, taxpayers are subsidising the profits of companies who employ through these contracts.
We are finally getting Thatcher's vision. People unable to secure mortgages or loans, forced to go to local authorities who use our tax pounds to pay tory private landlords exorbitant rents for hovels. They are here just to pick up the menial tasks and consume with only the bare minimum of state aid. Big society my arse
this country should hang it's head in shame

No

Years ago I was at a talk given by Rinus Michels ,when he was talking about how the Dutch had developed a system over years , the kids didn't play in leagues or for medals or trophies ,they were coached with a football at their feet and how to control it ,header it and pass it .

The whole set up of sport in general is a lot more structured in the likes of Sweden. There is a place for folk to participate even if they are f**king pish at whatever they are doing. The football clubs are more like community sports hubs with lots of different things going on, maw paw and the weans can pitch up and all f**k off and do whatever they want to do.
I think there is a real lack of quality coaching for football and alhough its still not fantastic I think in recent times there has been a bit more of an effort, but its still not good enough.
I played cricket to a decent level and as a kid the coaching was absolutely brilliant. I was taught every single aspect of the game, and once it was decided that I wasn't too bad, I was taken away and coached fairly intensively to hone whatever skills were there.
I also played football. Coaching consisted of running around the track, doing a bit of circuit work and then playing bounce games. Was never taught how to header. Never taught how to tackle, pass, trap a ball, was never taught the tactical side of things or the finer points of the game. Was basically flung a ball and told to play some football.

I spend quite a lot of time in Sweden and have lived there on an off for 15 years,over which time the standard of football has improved hugely. There's not the same difference between the 'bigger' teams, which to be fair include Elfsborg, and who in my view are a pretty typical upper table team. In a country with twice our population Malmö are probably the biggest club with maybe crowds of 15000, Elfsborg probably around 10 000. My own local team BK Häcken have Saints-sized crowds and stadium I'd say and after being promoted only a few seasons ago and nearly won the league last year (we don't like Elfsborg much for some reason; no-one I've spoken to at the club can tell me why, 'you just don't' I was told).
I'm pretty sure the squads of most sides are a mix of pros and part-timers, but I could be wrong. Overall, it's just a much more even mix of quality with no absolute runaway teams, so it's more open and interesting. Beneath the top two tiers there's a regional system as Sweden is bigger than France so travel is a real issue. The number of teams results reported in the sports pages down to very local level is astonishing. Football's not the only show in town here, and to be honest Hockey has the bigger stars and coverage. But one of the things I really like about football in Sweden is the fact that it is so relatively low key - at least in the press. Players aren't put on pedestals, never mind the managers; it's all very informal and friendly and well, less intense and resultingly more about fun than elevating a wee game to a matter of crushing importance. Oh yeah, they play in the summer, which as far as I'm concerned has a lot to do with the enjoyment factor. Heja Häcken!
Edited to say Ned's point about facilities rings true for me. Our tiny village in Sweden has four (i think) very good quality pitches and a very active club with its own clubhouse and bleachers etc. Far better sports facilities in general and better weather means loads of kids are playing at loads of levels.

Perhaps by not trying to hang on to the coat tails of the OF and concentrating on creating a bed of talent from the youth ranks instead of buying useless foreign journeymen we would be in a position to take advantage of said OF current lack of domination. I say that for all Scottish teams outside OF and not just Saints.

Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2

Where do these guys think up this unique stuff....they should be getting paid thousands for this ground breaking stuff.
Seriously though if i just rehashed stuff like this for my work I'd be hauled in, told it was lazy unacceptable work and sent off to do a better job.

It was touch and go between 1.2,3,4....Made the right call though .....£100,000 bonus all round and lashings of ginger beer.

All modern music is boring, repetitive and I've heard it all before. I don't consider it to be particularly shite or "just noise" though - it's just lame.
Travis, Killers, Kings of Leon, a stream of second rate rappers who think they are the first to swear on a record, wear their trousers round their knees, act tough and hard, display the bling or have girls tediously whoring themselves on their videos - f**k me - wake me up when someone does something remotely original and exciting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23297785
I`m sure its him, it certainly looks like him.
Who`s Ron Jeremy ? Ask Yer Dad & watch him go red as he pleads ignorance !

I'm into music and also buy modern music , have all the Fouls albums , Bombay Bicycle Club, Disclosure, Florence & The Machine , Arcade Fire , Hardrive, The Shins In fact could write hundreds more modern bands I have albums of. Only in Britain is music seen as kind of fasion a faze. Yet in actual fact it's artistic something that should not be fasion. So why on earth should old music not be listend too ? Many artisits listen to older music for insparation simply because music tends to repeat in one form or another. Popular pop songs are written in the most popular three chords as it sounds good to the ear. There are also music in my collection form before I was borm in the 50's the great time for swing jazz where Jazz Funk took it's roots. Also have a load of 60's music which sounds better than many bands of today. Sorry you are pigon hole older people which is wrong. I probably attend more gigs than you from King Tuts to the O2 in London also travel down to Manchester for gigs.
Enjoy music whatever your taste and let others enjoy there music whatever that manybe whether old or new. Remember one day you will be old and see that bit of music form your young days will still apeal you wait and see.

If my grandkids want to use my phone for games I hand then the phone set and tell them to get dialing

If someone had asked 10 months ago when the deal fell through, if I would be willing to allow the direct debit mandate to go through in order to start building a fund for a possible bid at some time in the future, I would have said yes. I still think this is the way to go and would complete a direct debit again, even if the money was being taken out my account for a couple of years before a bid was put together. My big fear is that what happened to Hearts, Dunfermline, Rangers etc could one day happen to us. If the right people were to run it and a fund built up solely for a fans buy out, I would be in.

Only two things are cheap in Brazil:
1 - human life, and
2 - granite kitchen countertops.
So unless you are seriously into home improvement, I can't recommend Brazil as a tourist destination, not even for the World Cup, nor the Olympics.
Rio de Janeiro is like the Wild West, with added crack cocaine and AK47s.
The state where this referee was beheaded, Maranhao, is in the dirt-poor north of the country, and is run by politician Jose Sarney as his own private kingdom. A total scumbag, he makes Westminster MPs look like saints.
Rant over!

Only two things are cheap in Brazil:
1 - human life, and
2 - granite kitchen countertops.
So unless you are seriously into home improvement, I can't recommend Brazil as a tourist destination, not even for the World Cup, nor the Olympics.
Rio de Janeiro is like the Wild West, with added crack cocaine and AK47s.
The state where this referee was beheaded, Maranhao, is in the dirt-poor north of the country, and is run by politician Jose Sarney as his own private kingdom. A total scumbag, he makes Westminster MPs look like saints.
Rant over!

Seems Longmuir is dead......"Long live the king ...Long live Neil Armageddon Doncaster"..... "Liquidation happens every week in the EPL....No big deal"

As far as I'm aware , they decided to keep it internal.Was not open for candidates outside the relative organisations.
We ideally need new faces at the helm of our football authority.

Best of luck Isma. Great memories we'll always have of his short time in Paisley. A goal in the League Cup semi final and final. In fact, our first goal in each game. Arguably, the goal in both cases that gave us the belief that we could do it.
Added to that, several other goals in the stripes, and a genuinely nice guy to meet.
I wish him well.

Isma77 - Cup winning legend and destroyer of Celtic's treble.
Pleasing.

In a word DISGRACE!!!

Mr Bean
Basil Fawlty
Lovestreet
Shull
Gordon Brown
Maggie Thatcher
Nelson Mandella
Would all make better candidates

Nice enough, not even the best restaurant in Johnstone for me though. Portions are a bit small! My favourite is La Trattoria Roma, a little Italian gem beside the Lidls.
Its interesting that according to Trip Advisor those two are the best two restaurants in Renfrewshire. Here's the top 10 for anyone thats interested: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g186569-Renfrewshire_Scotland.html
1) Papa Macs - Johnstone
2) La Trattoria Roma - Johnstone
3) Cardosis - Paisley
4) Bella Roma - Paisley
5) Il Picolo Mondo - Renfrew
6) La Rambla - Paisley
7) Windyhill - Kilmalcom
8) Cucina Minucci - Lochwinnoch
9) The Corran Inn - Houston
10) Cristal Restaurant Marr Hall - Bishopton
So basically Johnstone is at the heart of culinary excellence in Renfrewshire. Eat your heart out you posh Lochwinnoch/Houston/Kilmalcom/Marr Hall wannabees

This sounds awfully wooly and vague. If I go in and spend £45 on a golf shirt from awp, I want it handed to me in a bag, and I don't want to be paying for the bloody thing as well as the shirt.
In this day and age, why aren't all bags of this nature bio-degradable anyway?

Someone analysed it a bit on P&B during the big Rangers discussions. He appears to have been employed on the strength of the commercial deals he could broker - with the TV deal being the 'jewel in the crown'. Then, when you analyse the TV package the Scandinavian leagues negotiated, it makes Doncaster look like an amateur.
I'm also still convinced that a lot of the 'armageddon' predictions filtered down to SPL chairmen from Doncaster & Co giving out unsubstantiated messages of death if Rangers weren't saved. I see no other reason for SG to pass on this scenario of job cuts and sponsors leaving in droves to St Mirren supporters at those two meetings. What had SG to gain by giving Saints fans such an unpalatable message? - Nothing. All it brought him was grief, and grief from his own fans. Why would he invite criticism from his own fanbase unless he had been given such messages of gloom from those within Hampden who actually deal with big sponsors such as TV companies?
On balance, I think the probability is that Doncaster spread the gospel of gloom. One thing is absolutely certain - he's one of these corporate psycho-babble bullshit merchants, who talk about football as 'the product', and speak in such terms as delivering a quality product going forward in the marketplace, with a focus on achieving deliverables.'
For this alone, he deserves to be beaten over the head with big sticks.
Doncaster? Just say no.