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Its innovative and different, so fair play to the league for actually trying something less mundane. Whilst I dont overly endorse the idea of regionalisation due to the familiarity factor, it makes sense when you think about it ... if we, an established premiership side, baulk at the idea of travelling the length of the country then how much worse must it be for some of the lower league sides with even less budget or resources. As for timing ... where else would you fit it in? The season is now basically a 10 month one (AUG-MAY) and on two out of every 4 years there is either a World Cup or a Euro Championship to worry about (albeit not a big worry in Scotland for a while). The format seems to be harking back to the early days of this competition where it was played in a group stage too, but in those days it was the top clubs distributed in one set of groups and the lower teams in another ensuring some of the lower league teams reached the quarters .... it will be interesting to see how it goes. I also agree that the winners of both of our cup competitions should get a Euro spot. I always thought it was UEFA who had moved the goalposts here but apparently it is within the purview of the national association (SFA) to grant a Euro spot to the winners of both the primary and secondary cup competitions. They removed it in 1995 when our co-efficient dropped badly and we only had a few teams in Europe and it was felt that the winners of this competition typically qualified from the league or Scottish Cup anyway. The fact that lower division Raith Rovers were the last qualifiers to get in this way apparently didnt seem ironic to them. As someone who has supported ICT since day one I like the idea that this could be another way into Europe, especially for smaller teams given that the timing means the higher ranked teams may not yet be firing on all cylinders and it might afford a greater chance for a smaller team to have a 'Roy of the [Raith] Rovers' type run to the final and then to the European stage (where Rovers incidentally went out to eventual winners Bayern Munich in the 3rd round !!! - better than many teams nowadays [including us]). If we (Scotland) accept our lot as a European minnow these days then allowing the winners of the cup, and their fans the adventure and romance of the cup in this way might prove enjoyable.

Witnessed LTHV 3-0 Huntly tonight.... How the mighty have fallen.

Well done Mantis that is just like a BBC Open All Mic's report on a Saturday afternoon and they have a teamsheet!

The wording (taken from the Scotsman) is crucial ... "Group stage draw seeded and, where practicable, regionalised. One Premiership team in each group." The Glasgow Evening Times expands a bit more: "The draw for the group stages will be seeded and will take into account this season's league placings (ie. Rangers and Hibs would be regarded as seeds in the event that they win promotion this season) but in practice true regional groupings may be difficult to achieve. Similar to Uefa draw procedures, the SPFL will simply stipulate that teams are not forced to travel huge distances." The 'penalty point' is very similar to Ice Hockey although even there they play extra-time ('overtime') before going to the penalty shootout. 3pts for a win, 2pts for a 'winning draw' and 1 pt for a 'losing draw' ... seems to work ok.

Result: Hibs 1-0 Inverness CT

I do hope that we can hold onto Miles Storey but given his current form with us, think we may struggle. On that basis, we do need a couple strikers and I genuinely hope Storey is one of them. With regards to Darren Murray, if he was worth it, Yogi would have signed him. Hopefully we can get our top scout Kenny Cameron to bring in another decent striker.

Fairly on the the fence with this one. Not averse to changing things around but I would prefer to do away with the 'regionalisation'. This would be a good chance to see ICT (for example) playing some teams that we don't often get to face but instead we are likely to be paired up with Ross County (for even more derbies which have long since lost a lot of their appeal), Aberdeen and the Dundee sides. All a bit boring really. Potentially playing the likes of Peterhead, Elgin or Brora would be quite good but I think part of the beauty of any Cup competition is that you could face just about anyone. I think 'fixing' who you can and can't face detracts from that. I also think that having all the games in such close proximity to one another will reduce crowds at a time when a lot of people are on holiday and shelling out for so many games in a short space of time will put people off. And from a selfish point of view, because of the 'regionalisation' of the competition it's unlikely I'll be able to get to most of the games being down south which is a shame especially if we ended up playing a side which is somewhat more 'unique' than most. Excluding the European qualifiers from the tournament until the latter stages is odd too. They need match practice to get up to speed but all the other teams in Scotland will be tied up in this competition in July so no one will be free for friendlies so they'll need to look further afield for matches to get up to match fitness. Getting BT Sport on board is good, however I note again that the SPFL decline to say how much the deal is worth, and I quite like the penalty shoot out after a draw at the end of a game. I'm intrigued by the proposals but certainly not jumping up and down with excitement.

Haven't you just started a rumour re Henderson?

About a year ago my mate got us a pair of tickets to see the Manic Street Preachers - as it turned out, it was on Cup final day and the celebrations meant I never actually made it to the gig. 12 months later, they've just announced another gig in Scotland, and would you believe it, it's on Cup final day again. So I'm getting another ticket and very much hoping not to be there!

m'dear pimple just being conversational whaaat You sir, are a poet and I did not know it (Faith Sir, Blakeney's genes live on in you I'd wager) My regards to Castlegar.

Offer him £254,000 to sign up.

What about Blu Ray? Ross Draper in glorious HD....

I will be all over that.

There will be a double DVD, the Cup Final on one and a second with highlights of the rest of the season....a kinda "Road to Hampden" and "Road to Europe" type thing. With so much else going on, and a desire to make sure we get it right, we're not rushing it.....but it will happen.