The Mantis

Draper is 33 in October and a lot of County fans say he just hasn’t got the legs, and I don’t mean how bandy they are. Gardyne is already 35 and apart from County fans saying he’s done, it would be like County signing Tokely. Nope. Billy might just do a season’s job to get us up, if we can’t hold on to Toddy but it’s a gamble and as Kingsmills said, he’d have to fit our wage structure.

Well, pretty obviously, the point is “God may be omniscient, but don’t let him pick your managers” 😂 BTW, forgot to mention: John Robertson- resigned after 4 months due to “fundamental differences “ with the chairman. Willie McStay - sacked after 9 games.

Sure, but Shelley is not the answer. Given the talent available to the Scotland women's team, she failed miserably to qualify for the Euros. The team has gone backwards since Anna left. Most of the qualifying matches were eye-bleeding to watch.

Yeah, after all he appointed Deek Adams, Stuart Kettlewell and Jim McIntyre. Divine inspiration, cannae beat it.

A lot of County fans dreading that Uncle Roy might appoint Cowie. Could be the new Foran.

Any connection between you and Gorgeous George is purely coincidental. Plus the thought of Riley in a cat suit... 🤮

So just as we lose one plastic pitch we gain another...

Aye, Brockville was always a good away day. Even had a beer tent. Brechin 0 Kelty 1. A dour game means Brechin becomes a good day out in the HFL.

I met The Machine in Costco Edinburgh a couple of years back, buying tyres for his, eh, machine. Sure it was him and not Davie.

Its bridge is not in the same league though. And there’s a distinct lack of castles.

Another phenomenal marathon pod. Well done Moff, what depths this man has. AY, the voice of reason. Ross who pulls no punches. The indefatigable Suv and RedCard. Keep shuffling guys. P.S. is there a prize for spotting the deliberate mistake... 'as ugly as Darren Dods' 😜

Just offer your car as a swap. Congrats IBM 👍

Late drama. Elgin staying down as Edinburgh City score a late equaliser to face Dumbarton in the final. Rory scores late for Cove but Airdrie score even later. So no nearer to seeing who’s joining us as Morton, Montrose, Airdrie and Cove all face extra time. Edit - Morton and Airdrie score late in extra time to put out Montrose and Cove. Final next Tuesday and Friday.

Aye Scotty dozed off during the game 😉 I think Paul Sheerin was in amongst us that day.

I thought he'd been beheaded. Won't be much use to us in the air then.

I see the Arbroath fans speculating on P&B about him going back there.

I just assumed forresjags was being sarcastic...

Aww don't go all Bannerman on us now 😂 Here's my take on it, bearing in mind I'm based in the "Central Belt" but actively petitioned for Caley to get a place, back in the day. There's no conspiracy by the SFA. The SFA are the clubs. Football clubs vote selfishly. It's happening right now in the Pyramid below the SLFL as all the ex-Junior clubs moan about extra travel. So if I'm the treasurer of Albion Rovers I'm going to vote Gala Fairydean rather than Deveronvale, based on the cost of buses, and getting time off work, and of course the well known fact that such fixtures always happen on a wet Tuesday night in January 😉 Inverness Thistle might have squeaked in, in 1974. I believe the vote was something like 19-18. But the Highland vote was split 3 ways while only 2 Lowland clubs applied. So maybe the Highland clubs should have "voted tactically" and agreed to put their weight behind one club. In 1994, you say that 'they' (the SFL btw, not the SFA) 'had to let us in'. But the vote was overwhelming. Mainly because the big clubs didn't care who got in, but could see that Inverness deserved a club in the league, as the only conurbation in the Highlands ( Dingwall, not so much. Should have been Elgin). TBF, there aren't many/any communities in the Highlands much bigger than the likes of Brechin or Cowdenbeath, who are often held up as examples of 'deadwood'. Leagues form in populous areas and spread outwards. That's why the HL was mainly Inverness, Ross and Moray. To their shame they 'found ways to exclude' Brora till 1962, Wick till 1994, Fort till 1985 and Cove till 1986 😇 To mention Kelty is a bit of a contradiction as they are in effect a "Central Belt" club. After all the complaints about bias, it's maybe worth saying 'be careful what you wish for'. Pre-1994, the HL was very strong and we always did well in the Cup, and got huge crowds even for the likes of Albion Rovers, so we had the excuse that we could do better if only we were allowed in. Looking back, the HL is now awful, but our SPFL clubs now get national exposure on TV, so it was a trade-off - some people might think it wasn't worth it. One last point - the Highlands has about 1/7 of the Scottish population. But at Tier 5, it has 17 clubs while the south has only 16. From next season, it looks like the HL is finally opening up places to competition, but up till now it has operated like some kind of gentleman's club.

Watching this on a stream. Brora led but a Nathan Austin hat trick has sunk them.

Nathan Austin has just completed a hat trick for Kelty v Brora. So no big playoff final at Dudgeon Park this year.

If Cove come up we’ll have to wait and see what cringe-making name the media invent for the new ‘derby’.

Aye, hence the smiley.

“Former Aberdeen man” aye, right.

Just checked the squad thread which has slipped onto page 2. Seems Toddy is out of contract. Hope we can keep him but looking at the list, I’m not bothered about any of the rest.

11 draws out of 26 is where it went wrong. Look out for no 12 on Friday as a point keeps Ayr up. Dan has improved immeasurably this season and clubs will be looking at him. I have to admit I thought Roddy was a better player but getting a regular start has brought Dan on to the point he wants to nutmeg all the big name players. Think it was Andy Halliday this week 😂