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What has FA Cup to do with Scotland, do we not have a BBC Scotland . Who gives a hoot about the game at Wembley. Time our so called SFA got the finger out.

It will be disgraceful if the SFA make the game a lunchtime kick off. Another kick in the teeth for those of us not in the central belt.

Well TBH I am undecided. I wholly concede that injuries have significantly affected our season but some of the tactics and decisions made during games were baffling and added to the poor performances. I also read that Dodds is going to loosen the training schedules if we make the play offs. Surely we did'nt train gungho last season ??!! There was also a part of the season that many players looked cheesed off BUT the "togetherness" feeling certainly does appear high at the present time. The beef with Ridgers did not help either. BUT you learn from your mistakes and this season simply has to have been a massive learning curve for Dodds. I would offer a season long contract with a clause to prolong. Finances would wholly support that. And Dodds has been tarnished with the same brush as others above him and that does look unfair. The result on Friday may well still have an influence but all I care about is beating Ayr and the achievements of Play Offs and the BIGGEST ever game in our history cant be ignored. Those achievements are not gained by fools.

It’s understandable why the broadcasters would want to avoid a clash with another big match that day even if it is in another country - but I’d be interested to know who calls the shots on this. Have the SFA entered into a contract which allows a broadcaster to dictate and change the kick off time? If not, then why don’t the SFA just shut down the conversation and say sorry, it’s 3pm on Saturday and it would be inconvenient for supporters to make it earlier so tough luck?

To avoid a clash with the FA Cup Final !!! and will be playing when the Epsom Derby is run. So much for your traditional 3.00 kick off and any consideration for the travelling supports !!

Tbh I'd don't think there is much thought re fans at all. TV rules it seems

As usual there is no thought for the supporters out-with the "old firm" all they care about is money coming in

Why on earth the SFA would even consider devaluing their cup like this is beyond me? I too think there is something in this story...

Disgraceful, but sadly not surprised if this is true.

That the SFA have not come out to rubbish this story suggests to the very cynical part of me that there is more than a grain of truth in the story.

Rather than the knee-jerk reaction of sacking the manager, it might be more useful to try to see what the reason is - if any - for two consecutive mid-season slumps. But just you carry on ranting at the mirror.

Celtic request running scared of the Caley and our SC history............all the rest is just a smokescreen

You wouldn't expect a loss-making Swedish streaming service to have much consideration for any supporters. You say "want" - does that mean it's not a done deal? Time for the Sweet F A to remember what the 'F' stands for, and give the Swedes the traditional advice about sex and travel.

Is it just Viaplay though? Given the BBC will be screening both I'd imagine they are also heavily involved. Anyway, changing the KO time for the Scottish Cup final because of a match in another country sums up the tinpot nature of the game here.

I was thinking about the Cup Final and how Ryan Christie will no doubt be in demand from broadcasters having played for both clubs in recent years. I then tried to remember who else has played first team football for both clubs - Barry Robson and Mark Brown were the other names that sprung to mind. Knowing that there may well be others I’ve forgotten, I thought I’d get with the times and ask ChatGPT. Here’s the answer!

The S*n is reporting we're being offered 8,000 tickets, with the possibility of 10,000 if we sell the initial allocation. Terribly generous of the SFA even letting us attend at all. Also extremely professional of them leaking the news on kick-off time and allocation to the gutter press rather than through official channels. People seem genuinely surprised by the way we're treated. Entirely par for the course I would suggest.

How come they are only talking about this now? The fact that the 2 finals are taking place on the same day has been known for months, so if the broadcasters were keen to avoid a clash, they should have been negotiating kick off times months ago. One understands that audience figures are important to Broadcasters, particularly commercial ones who rely on advertising and/or subscriptions, and that ICT v Celtic is less of a draw for neutrals than Rangers v Celtic or Man City v Man Utd. But the point is, that regardless of which teams happen to be in the respective finals, if they are played at the same time, total audience figures will be lower. Given the opportunity a significant proportion of the TV audience would watch both games. One wonders if payments for broadcasting rights have already been fully agreed or whether there was a clause which links payments to audience figures. If the former, then the SFA should be telling the Broadcasters where to go. If the latter, then the clubs should be telling the SFA where to go. We know where we are going, but sadly we don't quite know when.

I do wonder if it's the BBC forcing the issue? The FA Cup final to be shown on all their platforms and also ITV and STV players.

You're right that if it was at the end of the season it wouldn't be kneejerk or sacking. I am just too used to hearing the same cries every week As for "how long and what metric" - playoff final last season, cup final and verge of playoffs this season have to be taken into account. I like IHE's summary above - covers both sides of the argument and shows that there is no easy answer.

That's me telt

Because it's where you are at the end of the season that really counts? I'm no fan, but not to offer an extension to a man who has taken us to the cup final - albeit after being knocked out! - and very close to the playoffs would be a bit churlish. We're not Chelsea or Spurs

Least that's half the debt gone and when we win the SC with our fine manager at the helm, that £3m minimum from our Euro tour plus the battery farm project spearheaded by our high integrity board, we will almost overnight become the 'ballers' of Scottish football.

I'm not even going to answer the question I've bolded above because you are just fishing for a reaction, well I will tell you now, you ain't getting one so just pipe down!

I was clearly using hyperbole. How come we're totally ignoring the majority of the season when judging managerial performance?

I've not been on of his biggest fans this season, especially during our wretched mid season run but even I know/understand that it would be harsh not to offer a new contract on the back of the cup success and upturn in form so let's hope we get the desired result on Friday because I truly believe that is what our recent form deserves I also trust him in the transfer market to find more gems such as Nathan Shaw, he did talk on viaplay (the interview is on our FB page fwiw) about potentially getting £1m for reaching the final and did tell the presenter that he hopes to get some of that windfall for new contract offers and/or transfers.

Great short sighted viewing, what about the form in our other 32 games, including successive mid season collapses? Point of note, McGlynn isn't in this league for good reason but its a pretty low bar to use as a standard given he has a career of being mediocre and achieving nothing noteworthy with any team.

Well said John

Maybe we offer him a 6 month contract so he can start and finish a season but we get someone in to do the mid season winter period

Aint gonna happen IMHO ... Police Scotland will quosh that idea citing public order concerns. Gives @IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER way too much time for all those Voddies.

Have you considered a name change? Maybe something like FlipFlop? Also, the last published accounts show nearly £2 Million of debt. Even if our cup run does net us £1 Million, then the manager is likely to see very little of it.