Leaderboard

I see the draw for the League Cup 1st Round is made tomorrow. I noticed Partick Thistle (now SPL) are to be included in it and I had a look at the format for this season. It's not explicitly been mentioned anywhere, but I can only see that Inverness have a bye to Round 3 - the last 16!!! The format employed assumes 5 Scottish teams in Europe but there are only 4 this season. They automatically get byes to the last 16. However, there seems to be a clause that, in the event of there not being 5 European representatives, then the highest placed team from the league (not European qualified) will assume the position of team 5. If I've interpreted it correctly, this would be a nice unexpected boost! The format is from this link with section 2 being the relevant bit. http://www.scottishfootballleague.com/football/league-cup/format/

We'll still get a couple of trips to the wee team in Dingwall.

Had Salmond paid his way and taken a seat amongst the regular punters then it would be fair enough for him to wave his flag but sitting in a privileged location because of his political position demands behaviour fitting of his position. Let's be clear - this was not an action by Salmond the fan, it was a cynical attempt by Salmond the politician to use Murray's achievement to draw attention to himself. It's no big deal, but it did look a bit naff and will have done nothing to endear him to those who are yet to rally to the cause (if I can use that term in the context of a tennis match). I wonder what the reaction would have been had Cameron sported a Union flag in the same way - no doubt it would have been condemned as unnecessary provocation by those who are currently defending Salmond. Sunday was Andy Murray's day and Salmond should have had the dignity not to do anything to detract from that.

He comes across well, looks industrious and sounds genuinely keen to do well for himself and ICT, I like this guy, so far, from the little I have seen of him on video. I hope and feel he will do the business.

like it. have it. wore it to the last TFC home game as per my new avatar ......

It's good for us but also a bit of a joke - getting a bye to a stage of the tournament where more than half the teams have gone out? From a fans point of view, the best things about cup ties are the trips to grounds in different leagues that we don't normally go to. Stenny away this season was excellent.