Scarlet Pimple

Swan Lake Ballet Company here ladies and chents. Vat is ze telee number of Saint Joh-stoine Footballer Club. We are verreee anxious to contact ze parabolic flying Wallenda guy. Looks like he fit in very good in Moscow theater --prinicipal dancer has hurt a leg-up. Me substitute of zee Principal but too much work has spraned my buttock and verryee much like brilliance of footie man with ellegince and grace. he help me get top performance and if I fall from gracie then he put on my make-up and take place of baronski Hot Puce in Flight of the Bumbill Bee. He has nice butticks too, perhaps we get along real good. eh?

The boy could never have got that ball had he not fallen down ,anyway. The Joffre Ballet should hire this guy for Swan Lake . Graceful as a bird on the wing . Video replays have been recommended for years by yours truly but the Scottish Football authorities do not want progressive changes at all. They are as complacent a bunch of backward -looking people as one could ever wish to meet.

So my worst fears --far too much back passing has yielded the inevitable outcome--a goal against us . Is that correct? If so, I am amending my exclamation from the former "Oh My!" to "OMG!"

Get it, M'em Sahib. Ah So! Still, a ridiculous amount of money. That's just reflective of the huge amounts of money in sport these days.

Jock..why? Don't you want to stir the pot?

Gotta come out of the gates with all guns blazing and unsettle the opposition they can implement their game plan . Secondly, we have been coshed by Partick more than once in the past and in important games--Scottish cup etc. So, either we don't take them seriously enough or they have really smart coaches/managers who really give our team's performance the once over prior to game time and let us have it during the game before we can settle. They are a team to be reckoned with and I said that right at the start of the season. After this victory they could start climbing the league. Don't they have quite a few youngsters in their team ?

Brora is at the back of beyond methinks. And such a small town isn't it. ...too far north for any of the bigger boys to want to travel there?

D.D I read he is getting 400,000 pounds per annum . You say millions?

If the team has started passing back to the goalie as has been reported then I am now concerned. I thought we had got over that affliction.

Absolutely spot on , Scotty. He was so upfront and honest. J.H. is a real man!

If the temperature is too low it saps the energy of the players on the park and it doesn't help to make a very good match day experience for the customers if you are frozen stiff. It was a low turnout again today. Mostly the diehards I assume. If the league cannot be persuaded to change over to summer football, which makes perfect sense,even for one season to try it out, then does anyone feel that there is anything but a challenging future ahead for Scottish clubs? There are too many other attractions nowadays for fans to put up with this when they could be sitting in comfort indoors watching the telly? Comments?

Danger here that confidence will be sapped ?

76,000 for attendance at the game yesterday in which Lionel Messi scores and scores... Here: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30333988

Is it my imagination but was the pace of this one a bit slow today?

Why Chas?............ Does he get up your nose?

Sneckboy--yes I noticed that about the many managers at our game. Eyeing up our boys eh? Smile In a way it's encouraging and complimentary. Hope they went away nervous after watching that display. I wonder if the Partick manager was also there? This one makes me a wee bittie nervous. They have beaten us in the past when it was assumed that we had a more than reasonable chance of winning and Firhill will be full of screaming Glaswegians.

Tob There they are.the Highlights. BUT this video is not available for viewing in Canada --or Overseas=- so can anyone send me the link to an opened file so that I can enjoy it as well. Also for all overseas lads and lasses in a similar position. Many thanks S.P.

You've got that right. They fear all overseas viewers so much that they seem to go out of their way to forbid our simple little pleasures, such as ICT footie, which for us old, decrepit, aching seniors, is up there with the Meerschaum pipe and slippers.

Maybe . But who will they get to replace him? Their young players have lost confidence as a result of the game losses. As they trooped off at half time their heads were seemingly already down and little spirit or fight left in them You have to feel a bit sad and some sympathy as well as empathy for them. 'Cos "There but for the grace of God go I." type of thing. I am afraid that St Mirren may end up as relegation candidates this term if things don't improve. Let's face it, the norms of Scottish football are changing. Poorer crowds, bigger teams such as the Hibs going down. And remember the day when first place for us would have been seen as absurd and the likes of Hamilton Academical being top of the League in the Premiership to be rather incredulous. You know--we may well just have a chance of winning this League this year. NOT TO MENTION a clean sweep of that and the League cup and the Scottish Cup. Would that bring in the crowds?

J Hughes went there because he's smart. However , he was also interested? Inquisitive? Go on -- add to the list chums.

The bright side? More money in the bank for ICT . Even at 1,000 as has been suggested (?) that's good money that will pay upkeep.

Sunstroke is brutal all right. Many years ago I was down in Oregon State in the USA and was out on the beach at midday. By evening I was delirious and either shivering or breaking out in sweats. Headache too. Ruined the weekend completely. Oregon is on a latitude with, say, Marseilles or something,. with Vancouver, B.C. on a line with Paris, France. Didn't take that into account and paid the price. Glad to see support is growing for Summer football then. It could save a few teams from financial disaster.

OOPS! I see it's 9,700 Kilometers not 5.7 K's . Slight difference. Ahem!

http://canucks.nhl.com/ This is the official website of the Vancouver ice hockey team who are in the National Hockey league; They have been in a few finals but have never won the Stanley Cup. Crowds are about 20,000 plus in Vancouver when they play at home in Rogers Arena. The team facilities(e.g. dressing rooms, offices, etc.) are out of this world. First class isn't the word for it. The team Doctors also have X-ray machines in the arena to image injuries as they occur, to ascertain how serious they might be. Players in the NHL start at $500,000 per season and range up to $6,000,000 per season. So they must be kept in top shape. Ice hockey is THE game in Vancouver but the Whitecaps soccer team is also very well supported and they play in front of crowds that approximate 20,000, The puck alone can break hands and feet or a knee. The speed of a hard hit puck is over 100 mph. Videos are best viewed by opening full screen at the bottom right of the video itself. Now they are off on a 7 game road trip in North America by plane totaling some 5,700 Kilometers. That's one game of about 2.25 hours every second night! That's the longest road trip of the season so the sooner they get it out of the way the better. How are they doing--very well after a slow start but not sure exactly where they are in the standings at this very moment. Cheers S.P.

Well, IHE that's right on. He seems to have melded the good stuff that T B left behind with his own progressive, more visionary, approach and introduced a brand new, crisper type of football. I am thankful for John Hughes that it's working a treat. And, even more importantly, that the players have adapted to with obvious flexibility and are now playing with enthusiasm and growing confidence. That's the pother benefit of JH's vision. Don't let's also underestimate the strong directives and the supportive role that JH is imparting to the players and the club because I feel sure that he is leaving a lasting impact and, perhaps, a future legacy. No T.B.-type tantrums, no anger outbursts or frothing at the mouth or against the world, emphasizing the positive aspects of any circumstance that may be seen by some as negative. Plus, his own character that really values this club and his loyalty to it - which to me is very important. If and when a manager's heart is in it and he is not just in it for his own good and advancement then the chances of a healthy and very upwardly-progressive movement is bound to pay dividends. We found out with some incredulity and to our cost that this was not the case with a former manager. And this left the acid taste of anger, resentment and deep disappointment to fester as well as a sense of disarray amongst most fans after his departure All this has silenced who Bughtmaster refers to as the naysayers and negative whiners. And let's face it ,Kingsmills, that choice of Manager was made at the behest of Mr. Cameron's direct influence and Bughtie was only connecting the dots, IMHO.