The Mantis

I'll take half the credit as I did likewise Kudos to @Jodie Carnie for having the belief...

Toxic presence at every club he’s worked at. Should have been sacked for the concert fiasco alone.

I wondered if he had a knock when he was subbed on Tuesday.

Ayr v ICT DRAW @3.80 please @MrCaleyjag

How have you heard of them then? Are they on MFR a lot? I wasn't actually impressed when I first heard them, thought they were a bit amateurish and in truth two of them were really wedding/ceilidh band standard, but I think Boydie has brought everything to a new level. I've still not managed to see them but I've got the Barrowlands concert recorded and there's a documentary from 2020 called "That's the Way We Do It". I suppose it's the Lewis connections as a lot of people won't get the in-jokes or the wee snippets of Gaelic in the lyrics, although they went down a storm at Glastonbury and other English gigs where nobody had a clue so just made up their own words

Could be wrong, but I think the company was set up before the football club existed. Season's greetings old chum

Go and pour yourself a little brandy, take it to the airidh…

Discovery of the year for me was Beluga Lagoon. Only discovered them by chance as the soundtrack on the BBC series Roaming in the Wild. Failed to get tickets for Aviemore in February (sold out in 3 minutes). Missed out on Barrowlands in May but a kind soul on twitter has sold me one.

We were at the Hoolie after the QP game and stayed over. Not a big Runrig fan but the tribute was great. Been into Wolfstone from way back, still enjoyable although not the same and very heavy now with 8 on stage. Recorded the two episodes but anybody who missed them just needs to keep an eye on BBC Alba. Also two Peat and Diesel programmes on this week.

Your brother more than made up for your absence #angermeter

Tbf I would say this was the worst away performance of the season by a mile, but the writing was on the wall when we saw the lineup. Billy rested for Longstaff, and Shaw, who is hopeless in the air, but had many high punts to deal with, playing alongside him. No spoony, and starts for Davidson and Duffy who should not be near an ICT shirt. Welsh started but is obviously not ready. Billy and Carson came on at half time and it looked a bit brighter for about 10 minutes. Not something which is said every day but defensively we miss Danny Devine. I think the stats at half time showed no shots for either side, on or off target. We continued our policy of not risking a shot but shuttling it around until it gets back to Ridgers. The game could easily have petered out at 0-0 but slack marking at set pieces cost us with two free headers. Toddy enjoyed sticking it right up our very vocal support and it could have earned him a booking but hey, maybe you or I would have done the same… I said before that McCabe has Airdrie playing the right way, even with limited quality, and up until the first goal they took the game to us, mainly down our right, although they had little to show for it apart from a few low crosses across the face with nobody to finish. The wee no 10 Frizzell is decent. Cammy Harper found himself free in the box late on and looked sure to equalise but he blootered it right in the path of the blocking defender when anybody else could have placed it. He had a hard time all day trying to outpace the full back so not a great day for Cammy. Anderson was quiet and Charlie picked up his customary booking. These loan signings, if they materialise, will need to do some heavy lifting.

If we can keep it tight for the first 2 minutes we can get a result here.

Bliadhna mhath ùr dhut fhein a’bhalaich

DUFC v PTFC DRAW @4.00

We're all plummeting if you ask me. Load of lemmings.

I wonder what that cost in 1972. Had a quick search but no luck

Forgot to mention - fantastic support today

That turned out to be a valuable point thanks to the Pars late equaliser. Both sets of players deserve nothing but praise considering the awful conditions. We totally dominated the opening 15 minutes and had a couple of half chances to double the lead which appeared to deflect off a defender and trundle in. Partick scored with their first attack of the game and it was a case of tragic failure to clear the ball. Never would have happened with Robbie Deas in there. We’re playing with 3 centre backs and nobody seems to know what their job is. We went to pieces after that and Partick murdered us for the rest of the half. Going by previous visits to Firhill we feared the worst for the second half but it never materialised. We really dominated the last half hour and had very few clear cut chances but it was like the Alamo with Partick defending scrambles in their six yard box and we must have had about 8 corners. However we’re still trying to walk it into the net with nobody trying to take a risk. Graham was substituted having had very little influence for once. So was Billy, for Longstaff, and he must have been frustrated trying to pull down long balls from Ridgers all day with big Muirhead breathing down his neck. Two shockers from Grainger the ref. He booked Ujdur for a clash of heads where the Partick player came off worst, and he missed a stonewall penalty when Cammy was hauled down late on. A draw away at Partick is not to be sniffed at against a team that has 29 points and a decent squad with Milne, Graham, Lawless and Alston.

DUFC @1.55 please

Big hand to you guys for this bumper edition which kept my attention over 2 days and made the M8 and Edinburgh City Bypass almost tolerable. Especially keeping up a consistent standard regularly at probably the lowest point in the club’s entire history. The 4 guests were great and candid, and good to hear that there’s more to come from the final guest. See yous at Firhill.

He never had it for long as it was heavy on fuel, 1500cc I think, and it was his car for getting to work as well. There was a local guy who had a huge yard full of old cars and my dad occasionally did jobs for him. He was said to be a millionaire and he wasn’t really bothered about making a living. If you wanted to try a car you had to get loads of other ones moved first. He was a bit of a legendary figure in Midlothian called Sonny Swinton. Actually now I remember, the driver’s door got damaged in Academy Street, Inverness. He left us kids in the back of the van for a few minutes but never shut the door properly. Each time a car went past the door swung open and closed. Then a lorry went past and it got damaged.

Thought I'd post this just to give IBM something to look at, it popped up as one of those facebook memories. My old man, old dear and wee sister at Nairn in 1968. I can still smell the waterproofing or whatever off that wee tent that I slept in with my brother.

DUFC v RRFC DRAW @3.60 please…

Well, that was fun. Haven't seen us score 4 since Gayfield in January. Should have been much more - Billy's offside was extremely tight. Feared the worst when they scored after a comfortable 10 minutes for us. This is a team that absolutely schooled us last season - remember the 81% possession at Ochilview. The renowned Guinness drinker beside me was berating Devine at the goal but Cammy really shouldn't have allowed the cross to go in, and after that it was a bit like bagatelle. Cammy really adds value going forward but he's weak as a fullback. You could maybe say the opposite about Duffy on the other side, or you could just say punt him. We need Carson back pronto. I would probably pick Charlie Gilmour as MoM. Great how he's grown into it after a less than glittering career. Never even got booked this week. Hope Dundee aren't in a hurry to get Anderson back either. A great partnership. I've always been a big Sean Welsh fan but as everybody knows he's made of chocolate so he might struggle for game time (no change then). The back three is fairly settled now and Niko is a great signing. Expect Uncle Roy or similar to come sniffing to spoil it for us. The goals were quality especially the third. Spoony and Billy's legs may have a combined age of about 150 but they partner up well. Harry came on but looked like a supporter who had won a competition. Longstaff and Brooks could have a future though. Plus points: was staying a couple of nights at the Crowne Plaza near the SEC for the Hoolie at the Hydro. Got tipped off that ICT were stopping there for lunch so got a selfie with #bigdunc. He's big all right. Minus points: 1) Glasgow rain. My first trip to Hampden since the Georgia game but not quite as biblical. 2) Driving back to the hotel, got stuck at a red light at the Squinty Bridge for about 10 mins while literally dozens of Rangers buses were passing through from the Govan Road. 3) QPFC catering prices = same as Scotland matches. 4) The 'stone baked' pizzas at the SEC are howling.

QPFC v ICT DRAW @3.40 please