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He has been able to pass the ball more than 5 yards. Unfortunately it may not necessarily be to one of his own team mates :tic01:

The general difference between most employers and the club is that any profit achieved by the club is re-invested and do not form part of the return for shareholders/directors. At the start of the year a budget is established for the playing staff to cover wages, bonuses and to a degree transfers (lets ignore additional payments by Chairman to certain players). This is established on the basis on perceived guaranteed income plus allowances/mechanisms for additional bonuses based on non-guaranteed income (e.g. cup runs, top six, etc). To increase the wages to players as some are suggesting one of the following must happen 1. Reduction in playing staff 2. Increase in income from higher paying gates - Nice concept but difficult to achieve 3. Increase in income from increased prices at the gate 4. Increase in other commercial activities I would suggest that whilst everyone is saying that we should be paying more, there will be little support for increasing the gate prices by any significant amount. It is difficult to budget on the basis of a forecast increase from higher gates and commercial activities (as these are not guaranteed). This leaves reducing the playing squad and using the wages for other players. I will not presume to suggest the best way forward other than saying that the club has to work within its means. We are one of the bottom three supported clubs in the league (both in terms of gates and also commercial activities) and this has to create a realism in terms of what we can offer. I would also have to add that in terms of increasing the profile of the club with the local kids we are not helping ourselves and greater effort should be made both in schools and general (we can walk past shops with old firm tops but have to look carefully in a dingy back corner of a well known department store to find any trace of the club - great advertising!).

Additional height in the centre of defence is a must. Whilst I agree with the signing of McGuire, againt teams with height we are not able to dominate (game against Motherwell was a good example).

Will be there (though will probably wish I stayed inside and wathched the champions league thans to the pitch)

Sorry CaleyD, have to disagree with you on this one. Black jumped in with two feet and to be honest some refs may have given red. Having just had his shirt pulled (which our wonderful man in control :024: managed to miss) he lost it a wee bit.

Are these puddles caused by the mythical aquifer :024:

Why does it matter where they came from? It is their ability that matters.

We should not fear the losing of players. This does not mark a good or bad team. Over time all teams will lose some players, particularly clubs like ourselves. The key part is in the replacements which are taken in or indeed promoted from the youth ranks. This will be the factor on which both the club and Brew should be judged, not whether players choose to move on. I rate RD highly and would be sorry to see him move. What is not acceptable is paying wages which are unsustainable - ask Livi, Dunfermline or Dundee fans! The situation with Marius has not helped, however given his international pedigree (in the past or otherwise) the argument is clear for a higher wage to be paid - whether as an individual we agree with this or not. I expect an improved offer to be made - we can wait and see whether this is acceptable. I expect that Dennis will sign. With regard to Tokely I am not keen to see him move on, however after his performances on the field this year and issues behind the scenes during CC's reign (which I'll not go into), to be honest I find it hard to get too excited about him moving on.

McSwegan left a couple of weeks ago to go nearer to his family down south

I am more concerned that the Stewards (and some police) allowed the Rangers fans to enter the field of play yet again to celebrate the winning goal. How many times will this happen before they stop this happening. Did they take the offenders away - No! They simply popped them back over the wall. I am sure that everyone will recall the action taken earlier this season when this happened (on a much lower scale!) at the North stand end. Double standards! As an aside, it would be much more accurate for the announcer to state prior to games that seating for home fans is mandatory and away fans can do whatever they like.

A good number of friends and work acquaintances took their families to the game specifically due to the lower costs. I would agree with the estimates that perhaps 500 or so extra people came through the gates.

It's questionable whether he is on Celtic's radar this year :023:

To be fair whilst enquiries have been made Marius is still our player and he may chose to stick around for a while longer. We all knew that if he performed then an early move was likely. I don't think that we can knock him for wanting to play at a bigger club. His ability also means that he could earn a lot more elsewhere than we can offer. I suspect that if he moves it will not be to a scottish team (I don't see him interested in anyone other than the old firm and I would be surprised if he is on their radar at the moment).

I would have to say that Russell was our best midfielder by a fair way yesterday. Black and Cowie were both very guilty for misplaced passes (not picking on them but this is a fact) and Rankin over elaborated at times.

I understand that the club has received a significant number of enquiries over the past days regarding the availability of Marius for transfer. Whilst I am not aware of any actual offers being made, I understand that there is a real chance that Marius may not be with us come the end of January (which suggests that his contract has clauses which will allow him to move in certain circumstances or for a set price). I would hope that we can keep hold of him, however given his pedigree (and indeed the class shown yesterday) this may be a bit unlikely.

Saying he had a nightmare is a bit harsh. His control and passing in the first 30mins was poor (but Cowie, Rankin and Black suffered the same problem till we got the first goal). He then came onto a bit of a game before tiring towards the. Remember that he is coming back from a hamstring injury and needs to gain match fitness back. Staying on the park instead of Marius (when we were 3-0 up) was of more value. Denzil is a player similar to Michael Owen in that they take time to get back into the swing of things after being injured. I actually thought that a few of the players looked a bit jaded towards the end (four games in the past two weeks taking its toll). Gretna tired much more however and this is again an example of the benefits of Brews fitness regime.

If McGuire gets signed then Brew will not add further in this area. We also have Watt and Kerr as cover. It should be noted that Brew is on record as saying that he thinks Proctor's most natural position is in the centre of defense and he will not be surprised by the performance.

The point is that we were playing against a relatively poor team. This led to complacency and a lack of cutting edge at some points. Even so we had good chances to add another 3 or 4 goals. I can't see how the second half performance can be said to be worse than the first half against Motherwell.

Deuchar does not have the pace or the guile to be hugely successful in the SPL with the Gretna side. He is a natural finisher however and if Gretna could get the right players beside him I am sure that he will score his fair share. I thought that Proctor did very well today. There was the odd occasion where it was obvious that he has not played in this postion with Granty much (hesitation in a decision being made, etc). This is not his fault however and a few matches will give an improvement in the organisation and understanding. His additional height over McGuire was also helpful. In terms of his overall game he was miles ahead of Caff and I don't have any problems with him being allowed to head off on loan.

A nice detour via Aberdeen to tire them out will suffice :023:

I've just listened to the Charles Bannerman interview with CB on the BBC website (from earlier today). It sounds as though real money will have to be offered if Rankin is to be allowed to go. I suspect that it will be more than the ?65k which we paid for him.

Yup, Johndo. :023: It is so pleasing to see such a balanced perspective on all our players this season :029:

A rather low key first half where we started with Marius in an advanced midfield role and Bayne the lone stricker. We shaded it but put a lot of people to sleep (probably set a record for the number of corners won - only one decent delivery however). The second half was much better. Marius played far higher up the field in a more traditional 4-4-2. We could have won by a much greater score and some of the football was excellent particulary the pace of some of our attacks. Marius was excellent for all but the first half hour. Not sure how he missed the chance in the middle of the second half :024: Most payers played well but mentions must be made for Hastings, Duncan, Cowie and Marius. Bayne gave his usual shoift but it was clear that he misses a bit quality wise. Too many headed knock-ons into areas where we had no players. Lack of first tocuh, etc. That said, he does give his all.

What? I don't think I can think of two strikers with such different styles. Go on - have a go. I bet you can :023:

I was shocked when Brown quessed the right way to dive. From my recollection he used to dive in the opposite direction (in case he got hit by the ball I presume) :crazy07: