The Mantis

Yes it’s pretty light, especially closing half the North Stand 😂

I was there the night we beat the Czechs to qualify for 1974 in West Germany. Also when we crushed them 3-1 in 1977 but that just led to Argentina… But then I was also there the night we were comfortably beating Wales, although it was just 1-0, till Willie Donnachie passed it back to Jim Blyth who wasn’t in his goals. Or the time against Austria, again 1-0, till Roughie laid it on a plate for Krankl… And after the embarrassment of being the worst side in the tournament two years ago, DoofersDad wonders why we’re so negative 😂

I think if it goes the normal way we’ll have Linlithgow and Morton away. Been to them both many times but still to see ICT at Linlithgow. Good that we haven’t got another trip to Bayview. Edit - sorry, I see Chris has already posted it. That was your fault Gringo… 😂

Watch it Gandalf.

Never spent that much time in his company…😂 Remember his office at Greig St. Got half an hour in there back in the Caley days but he maybe thought I was a potential investor 😇

Same here. It was sair to bear, the first setback in our 15 year history. I was at all the post-split games apart from Hamilton. First we beat St Mirren away. After Rossco’s late winner we hit the bar twice. One of those going in would have meant finishing above them on goals scored. Then a 2-2 draw at Motherwell. John Sutton equalised with 11 minutes left, or we would have been safe with 2 games to go. We lost a tight game at Rugby Park due to a strike by Kevin Kyle, then on to Falkirk on the last day. So we went down on goal difference with 37 points won which I think is still a record. Still, it made 2009-10 into an epic season for us…

By listing the 5 games they’re already setting it up so Celtic can avoid getting hammered, and get a token punishment along with the other clubs, and they won’t get a backlash from all the paranoid jungle Jims saying their club is victimised.

We've had part-time teams in the Champ before, such as Alloa and Brechin*, and Arbroath this time, although they seem to operate as a hybrid. This is their best spell for about 60 years, they're exceptionally well run, and their crowds are up significantly, to a point where they rival the likes of Morton and Airdrie, but as somebody who never makes predictions (and never will 😂 ) I predict it won't last. These teams get their day in the sun every few years. As for Stenny, they have a tiny stadium and attract about 400 fans so I think they just have to enjoy it while it lasts. Naysmith's away anyway, the best manager in their history, so imo that's the end of that. As for ourselves, we are a Championship-sized club that has punched above its weight but has hit rock bottom recently, but if AS gets it right we should be back to where we should be in a sustainable shape, as we were from about 2001-2017 until some appalling mismanagement happened. Edit *Brechin reached tier 2 via the playoffs in 2016-17. They didn't win a single game and after successive relegations are now at tier 5.

The first half was late in finishing so there was a carry-over as well.

Another survivor here, and if you’ve been listening to Kenny Macintyre on OTB then my story is quite similar. Lost my younger brother in 2017. Asked about getting checked out at age 60 but got fobbed off with a questionnaire. Visited my GP in summer 2022 about something unrelated and he took some tests. Traces of blood in the urine and PSA of 10, and later 8.9. This led to a biopsy in the winter which showed 11/12 samples cancerous. Diagnosed with stage 2/3 (hard to read a CT scan accurately). Stage 4 is when it’s spreading out of the prostate and is serious. Spring of 2023, started hormone injections and in late summer had umpteen 5-minute bursts of radiotherapy. I’ve had 6-monthly PSA tests since Feb 2024 and every one has been around 0.1 . tl;dr - Wednesday is an opportunity which you should take.

At least they had fixed the PA system. When we were there in January you couldn’t make anything out for the crackling.

Looks like Oscar. Devine, Longstaff and Savage are in the picture. Easton was MoM by the sponsors at the age of 38 and deservedly so as Cherlie says. He had Zimba in his pocket. A similar battle back in January when Easton made it although he was an injury doubt, and it took a wonder strike from Alfie Stewart to give us the lead with 20 mins left. Video shows loads of empty seats in the home end. 1348 there out of a capacity of 1980. Just saying.

An hour’s drive via the City Bypass and Queensferry Crossing and the A92 past Kirkcaldy plus nae drink? Or an hour from Waverley to the spanking new station at Leven and a 15 minute walk to the Allianz Methil Docks Arena? Hmmm, tough choice that one.

Do you not mean Brechin 😏

Just been reported that Iraola is leaving Bournemouth in the summer for Athletic Bilbao. Possibly affects the career of Ryan Christie who has really thrived there.