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David David David David David David David Raven!

What a pleasant surprise to see no Celtic player on this. Think Higdon is the most deserving winner - the number and quality of his goals have been outstanding, and he's been consistent all season. Griffiths has been good, but probably less consistent, and I can't get past some of his off-field antics this season when it comes to rewarding him, even though these shouldn't have a bearing. Shinnie has been less influential for us since the break, but I'm glad he's been recognised, even though our success this season has been a fantastic team effort.

David Raven needs one he has been amazing this year so he needs a song

One I remember that hardly anybody else will - we got a 1-1 draw thanks to a Martin Glancy equaliser, the year we went up with Livi, 98-99. This kept us 8 points ahead of Clyde. The team bus made it over Drumochter but the supporters bus didn't as the snow gates got closed. Only a handful of Central belters there. i remember that one - not cos i was there but because i was on the bus. i'd taken 2 wee boys to thier first away game. tried to get hold of the parents but couldn't as they were off enjoying themselves child-free. ended up going to see Elf in Vue cinema, taking them to Pizza Hut for lunch then over the bridge to the County game in Caley colours! guess it would be the away end we were in. kids had a smashing day - cost me an arm and a leg....

Jeezo, ya have to be careful wi yer terminology roond these parts eh?..... "a sense of loyalty, bred into me from an early age" To answer yer question Charles, i never bought into the whole "never had a chance to prepare" "didn't know till the week before" excuses being trotted out.As supporters we discussed in the last 6 games of last season with County disappearing into the sunset the need to stay focused and play for second as there was a VERY good chance this could prove massive as things were unfolding,if we could see this with no info,I'm sure those with connections and nods and winks kent a whole lot more!! Early season we struggled but it quickly became apparent Barry was showing undue loyalty to underachievers and good guy's like Matt Lockwood who were clearly out of their depth.We were unlucky with injuries but managed to hang onto St Mirren's coat tails, the turning point being in Paisley with Colin Nish getting sent off and losing a game we could have won to go equal on points. At this point it was obvious if we could start scoring goals we had a decent chance of competing and staying up. Gary Harkins was brought in which was a tremendous signing but extending 2 goal Colin Nish's contract and several other baffling signings during the January window, while County and St Mirren made very astute and ultimately match winning signings which saw County into the top six and St Mirren win their first trophy in 25 years showed up Barry's naiveté and the boards incompetence. IMHO our CEO has spent far too much time and energy championing the reconstruction process and i feel had put all his eggs into this basket and not focusing on staying up as "things were changing" Brown has proved that the squad are capable of results, but all, sadly for us, a little too late. The timing of Barry's dismissal and manner of Browns appointment were also shocking but there's no arguing Broons getting results since his appointment. All in all a great opportunity squandered in my opinion

I suspect the gap between 1st and 2nd is smaller than the gap between 2nd and 3rd in previous seasons. This would suggest a (slightly) more competitive league.

I'm not getting involved in this but there's a few interesting points in here that are continually voiced by mainstream media. I have no opinion on the merits (or otherwise) of what happened to Rangers. What happened, happened and it may be that after CG's departure more information will clarify the true picture of what went on at Ibrox. What cannot be denied is that the SPL is a better place this year. People do tell me that its uncompeditive and that Celtic didn't have to try and that's why they won the league at such an early date. No one levels that criticism at Manchester United or the EPL, although Man Utd won the league the day after Celtic and may well finish with a record number of points amassed in that competition. Celtic's pricing for an end of season game, albeit one that promised a celebration, was entirely reasonable and mirrored pricing incentives that have been used by all the SPL clubs this year. The fact is that in times of economic uncertainty, entertainment industries suffer and football is just one of them. The quality (or otherwise) of the product is secondary but this has been the tightest SPL in years. Motherwell have been excellent and we could have been clear in second and close to Celtic if our early season run of draws had been translated to wins. From what I can remember, that wouldn't have taken much so it's not a flight of fancy to imagine. The standard of football has been better this year and that fear of losing that permeated previous seasons seems to have lessened. Celtic may win the League for the next however many seasons, but man United or City will win the EPL, Real or Barcelona will win La Liga and teams like Rosenborg will have a stranglehold on their leagues. Does it lessen the TV viewing public? No. Does it devalue the other clubs in these leagues? No. What will devalue it is continually talking it down. Tell a dog its bad for long enough and guess what? Bad it will be.

"inbred sense of loyalty" Yes, that's more a Dingwall thing.

Agent N... I would beg to disagree 100% and suggest the complete opposite. You imply Rangers and Celtic are the solution to the problem. I would put it to you in total contrast that Rangers and Celtic actually ARE the problem and that they have historically stifled competition from other clubs. Scottish football is struggling for viability because so much of the cash circulating in it is going into the coffers at Ibrox and Celtic Park. Within a population base of just 5 million, there's not enough left for much else to survive at any significant level. However Rangers and Celtic disappearing off to England, for instance, wouldn't solve the problem since the money would still follow them. I'm afraid Scottish football is stuck with this situation since you can't unmake Rangers and Celtic in the form in which they exist - unless you can renegotiate the Anglo Irish Treaty and undo the Reformation!! So you can fiddle about with league structure as much as you like. It really won't make any significant difference since there is no solution to the core problem of Old Firm hegemony. I also don't think the negative factors you point to are a result of Rangers being in the Third Division this season. My own view is that from the perspective of the other 11 SPL clubs apart from Celtic, this has actually been a rather better season than normal. OK, there has been no competition for the league title but that isn't any concern of these other 11 clubs and anyway nothing has really changed there - once again it has been won by an OF club. But on the other hand the other clubs have been going to Celtic Park or entertaining Celtic with a greater hope of taking something from them this season, there was an absolutely wonderful scrap for top six places, the battle is still not over in terms of who finishes second and there is an extra European place for one of these other 11 clubs.

Disappointing result but once again you can't fault any of the players attitudes or efforts. We held out well for 60 minutes and were just beginning to frustrate Celtic when they scored. Warren going off made things difficult as he was simply superb first half and you could see the defence lacked organisation without him as highlighted from the corner that Ambrose was left with a free header from 6 yards. Can't understand the criticism of OTJ at all. I thought he had a very good game against an unbelievable talent in Wanyama. We've always said that if Celtic play at their best, they'll beat us and unfortunately the last 30 mins from Celtic was very good. The movement from Hooper and Commons in particular caused us problems and you can see why they are paid what they are paid. Saying that, credit has to go to Josh Meekings for yet another brilliant game in the centre of defence. His tackle at the end of the first half was perfectly timed and he marshalled the front two of Celtic very well for 60 minutes. He's only 20/21 and has performed at a very high and consisted level all season and for this I think he may very well be my vote for player of the year. One concern I do have is Butchers constant decision to play Draper out wide. He really is wasted out there and I feel that yesterday was a perfect example that it just doesn't work. When soaking up pressure like we were, we desperately needed an out ball and we didn't have one. A.Shinnie would normally give us this but he was having to drop deep yesterday to help out in midfield and Doran didn't have his best afternoon. Draper and Jones I believe is our best partnership in the middle and I really hope they are re-united for Saturday. I notice the amount of people mentioning Butchers tactical change yesterday by taking Shinnie off for Taylor. I have a sneaky suspicion this may be a plan for next season with Doran (if he stays) taking Shinnies role in the hole behind the striker. Just a theory but i'd like to see it given a bit of time as I believe he may be quite effective in that position. I was actually quite impressed by our left side once G.Shinnie was pushed further forward. What did people make of Devine's yellow card? From where I was sitting it seemed like the usual play acting from Samaras who went down in a heap holding his face. Did the TV show any contact? The fixtures may not have been the kindest towards us but I for one am glad to have got Celtic out the way at the start as we now have four winnable games and can hopefully build momentum without having to face a team the calibre of Celtic. Lets just remember where we have come from this season and really get behind the team for one final push towards Europe. Butcher, Malpas and all the players deserve so much praise whether we make Europe or not so let's really just show them how much we appreciate their efforts this season by turning out in numbers for the last four games and really backing the team hopefully into Europe. What a season and it continues...

I am going to take my flares,down some shots,make an ass of myself and conga across the beach at full time.

I looked this up because I found it hard to believe It was 6-1, 14 March 98 and my diary says I was there.... can't remember a thing about it All I can remember is how hard it was to win there, we always made it hard for ourselves by having red cards, gift goals etc. There was a 4-3 as well as Johndo's 4-1. Lost about 3 goals in 5 mins while Hastings was injured or something. One or two 3-0 defeats too. A backs to the wall 1-1 draw after Martin Bavidge was sent off quite early on with us leading. One I remember that hardly anybody else will - we got a 1-1 draw thanks to a Martin Glancy equaliser, the year we went up with Livi, 98-99. This kept us 8 points ahead of Clyde. The team bus made it over Drumochter but the supporters bus didn't as the snow gates got closed. Only a handful of Central belters there.

Give me a shout if you need an extra player. I'm itching to add a goal to the 2 assists in the Fans v Legends match the other month!